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S. V. Troitsky

Publications and source records attributed to S. V. Troitsky.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Probing neutrino production in blazars by millimeter VLBI

The advancement of neutrino observatories has sparked a surge in multi-messenger astronomy. Multiple neutrino associations among blazars are reported while neutrino production site is located within their central (sub)parsecs. Yet many questions remain on the nature of those processes. The next generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT) is uniquely positioned for these studies, as its high frequency and resolution can probe both the accretion disk region and the parsec-scale jet. This opens up new opportunities for connecting the two regions and unraveling the proton acceleration and neutrino production in blazars. We outline observational strategies for ngEHT and highlight what it can contribute to the multi-messenger study of blazars.

astro-ph.HE↗

Growing evidence for high-energy neutrinos originating in radio blazars

Evidence for bright radio blazars being high-energy neutrino sources was found in recent years. However, specifics of how and where these particles get produced still need to be determined. In this paper, we add 14 new IceCube events from 2020-2022 to update our analysis of the neutrino-blazars connection. We test and refine earlier findings by utilising the total of 71 track-like high-energy IceCube events from 2009-2022. We correlate them with the complete sample of 3412 extragalactic radio sources selected by their compact radio emission. We demonstrate that neutrinos are statistically associated with radio-bright blazars with a post-trial p-value of 3*10^-4. In addition to this statistical study, we confirm previous individual neutrino-blazar associations, find and discuss several new ones. Notably, PKS 1741-038 was selected earlier and had a second neutrino detected from its direction in 2022; PKS 0735+168 has experienced a major flare across the whole electromagnetic spectrum coincidently with a neutrino arrival from that direction in 2021.

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Upper limits on the isotropic diffuse flux of cosmic PeV photons from Carpet-2 observations

Isotropic diffuse gamma-ray flux in the PeV energy band is an important tool for multimessenger tests of models of the origin of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos and for new-physics searches. So far, this flux has not yet been observed. Carpet-2 is an air-shower experiment capable of detecting astrophysical gamma rays with energies above 0.1 PeV. Here we report the upper limits on the isotropic gamma-ray flux from Carpet-2 data obtained in 1999-2011 and 2018-2022. These results, obtained with the new statistical method based on the shape of the muon-number distribution, summarize Carpet-2 observations as the upgraded installation, Carpet-3, starts its operation.

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Galactic contribution to the high-energy neutrino flux found in track-like IceCube events

Astrophysical sources of neutrinos detected by large-scale neutrino telescopes remain uncertain. While there exist statistically significant observational indications that a part of the neutrino flux is produced by blazars, numerous theoretical studies suggest also the presence of potential Galactic point sources. Some of them have been observed in gamma rays above 100 TeV. Moreover, cosmic-ray interactions in the Galactic disk guarantee a diffuse neutrino flux. However, these Galactic neutrinos have not been unambiguously detected so far. Here we examine whether such a Galactic component is present among the observed neutrinos of the highest energies. We analyze public track-like IceCube events with estimated neutrino energies above 200 TeV. We examine the distribution of arrival directions of these neutrinos in the Galactic latitude b with the help of a simple unbinned, non-parametric test statistics, the median |b| over the sample. This distribution deviates from that implied by the null hypothesis of the neutrino flux isotropy, and is shifted towards lower b with the p-value of 4*10^{-5}, corresponding to the statistical significance of 4.1 sigma. There exists a significant component of the high-energy neutrino flux of Galactic origin, matching well the multi-messenger expectations from Tibet-ASgamma observations of diffuse Galactic gamma rays at hundreds of TeV. Together with the previously established extragalactic associations, the Galactic component we report here implies that the neutrino sky is rich and is composed of contributions from various classes of sources.

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Parameters of axion-like particles required to explain high-energy photons from GRB 221009A

Recent astrophysical transient Swift J1913.1+1946 is possibly associated with the gamma-ray burst GRB 221009A at the redshift z=0.151. The transient was accompanied by very high-energy gamma rays up to 18 TeV observed by LHAASO and a photon-like air shower of 251 TeV detected by Carpet-2. These energetic gamma rays cannot reach us from the claimed distance of the source because of the pair production on cosmic background radiation. If the identification and redshift measurements are correct, one would require new physics to explain the data. One possibility invokes axion-like particles (ALPs) which mix with photons but do not attenuate on the background radiation. Here we explore the ALP parameter space and find that the ALP-photon mixing in the Milky Way, and not in the intergalactic space, may help to explain the observations. However, given the low Galactic latitude of the event, misidentification with a Galactic transient remains an undiscarded explanation.

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Muon lateral distribution function of extensive air showers: results of the Sydney University Giant Air-shower Recorder versus modern Monte-Carlo simulations

The Sydney University Giant Air-shower Recorder (SUGAR) measured the muon component of extensive air showers with a unique array of muon detectors. The SUGAR data allow us to reconstruct the empirical dependence of muon density on the distance from the axis of the shower, the lateral distribution function (LDF). We compare the shape of this function with the predictions of hadronic-interaction models, QGSJET-II-04 and EPOS-LHC, in the energy range 10^17.6 - 10^18.6 eV. We find a difference between the observed data and the simulation: the observed muon density falls faster with the increased core distance than it is predicted in simulations. This observation may be important for interpretation of the energy-dependent discrepancies in the simulated and observed numbers of muons in air showers, known as the "muon excess".

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Radio astronomy locates the neutrino origin in bright blazars

High-energy astrophysical neutrinos have been observed by several telescopes in the last decade, but their sources still remained unknown. We address the problem of locating astrophysical neutrinos' sources in a statistical manner. We show that blazars positionally associated with IceCube neutrino detections have stronger parsec-scale radio cores than the rest of the sample. The probability of a chance coincidence is only 4*10^-5 corresponding to a significance of 4.1 sigma. We explicitly list four strong radio blazars as highly probable sources of neutrinos above 200 TeV: 3C 279, NRAO 530, PKS 1741-038, and PKS 2145+067. There are at least 70 more radio-bright blazars that emit neutrinos of lower energies, starting from TeVs. Using continuous RATAN-600 monitoring of VLBI-selected blazars, we find that radio flares at frequencies above 10 GHz coincide with neutrino arrival dates. The most pronounced example of such behavior is PKS 1502+106 that experienced a major flare in 2019. We demonstrate that the majority of IceCube astrophysical neutrino flux derived from muon-track analyses may be explained by blazars, that is, AGNs with bright Doppler-boosted jets. High-energy neutrinos can be produced in photohadronic interactions within parsec-scale relativistic jets. Radio-bright blazars associated with neutrino detections have very diverse gamma-ray properties, which suggests that gamma-rays and neutrinos may be produced in different regions of blazars and not directly related. A narrow jet viewing angle is, however, required to detect either of them. We conclude with discussion of recent independent tests and extensions of our findings.

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PeV photon and neutrino flares from galactic gamma-ray binaries

The high-energy radiation from short period binaries containing a massive star with a compact relativistic companion was detected from radio to TeV gamma rays. We show here that PeV regime protons can be efficiently accelerated in the regions of collision of relativistic outflows of a compact object with stellar winds in these systems. The accelerated proton spectra in the presented Monte Carlo model have an upturn in the PeV regime and can provide very hard spectra of sub-PeV photons and neutrinos by photo-meson processes in the stellar radiation field. Recent report of a possible sub-PeV gamma-ray flare in coincidence with a high-energy neutrino can be understood in the frame of this model. The gamma-ray binaries may contribute substantially to the Galactic component of the detected high-energy neutrino flux.

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Observation of photons above 300 TeV associated with a high-energy neutrino from the Cygnus region

Galactic sites of acceleration of cosmic rays to energies of order 10^15 eV and higher, dubbed PeVatrons, reveal themselves by recently discovered gamma radiation of energies above 100 TeV. However, joint gamma-ray and neutrino production, which marks unambiguously cosmic-ray interactions with ambient matter and radiation, was not observed until now. In November 2020, the IceCube neutrino observatory reported an ~150 TeV neutrino event from the direction of one of the most promising Galactic PeVatrons, the Cygnus Cocoon. Here we report on the observation of a 3.1-sigma (post trial) excess of atmospheric air showers from the same direction, observed by the Carpet-2 experiment and consistent with a few-months flare in photons above 300 TeV, in temporal coincidence with the neutrino event. The fluence of the gamma-ray flare is of the same order as that expected from the neutrino observation, assuming the standard mechanism of neutrino production. This is the first evidence for the joint production of high-energy neutrinos and gamma rays in a Galactic source.

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K0 and K+ meson electromagnetic form factors: a nonperturbative relativistic quark model versus experimental, perturbative and lattice Quantum-Chromodynamics results

It has been previously shown that a particular nonperturbative constituent-quark model of hadrons describes experimental measurements of electromagnetic form factors of light charged mesons through a small number of common phenomenological parameters, matching at the same time the Quantum-Chromodynamics (QCD) asymptotics for the pi-meson form factor at large momentum transfer. Here we start with the determination of the K0 electromagnetic form factor in this approach. Precise measurement of the K0 charge radius makes it possible to constrain model parameters with high accuracy. Then, with all parameters fixed, we revisit the K+ form factor and find that it matches experimental measurements in the infrared, lattice results at moderate momentum transfer and the perturbative QCD asymptotics in the ultraviolet. In this way we obtain a narrow constraint on the K+ charge radius, = 0.403 +0.007 -0.006 fm^2, and extend the successful infrared-ultraviolet connection from pi to K mesons.

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The K-meson form factor and charge radius: linking low-energy data to future high-energy Jefferson Laboratory results

Starting from a successful model of the pi-meson electromagnetic form factor, we calculate the similar form factor, f_K(Q^2), of the charged K meson for a wide range of the momentum transfer squared, Q^2. The only remaining free parameter is to be determined from the measurements of the K-meson charge radius, r_K. We fit this single parameter to the published data of the NA-7 experiment which measured f_K(Q^2) at Q^2->0 and determine our preferred range of r_K, which happens to be close to recent lattice results. Still, the accuracy in the determination of r_K is poor. However, future measurements of the K-meson electromagnetic form factor at Q^2<~5.5 GeV^2, scheduled in Jefferson Laboratory for 2017, will test our approach and will reduce the uncertainty in r_K significantly.

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Directional association of TeV to PeV astrophysical neutrinos with radio blazars

Recently we have shown that high-energy neutrinos above 200 TeV detected by IceCube are produced within several parsecs in the central regions of radio-bright blazars, that is active galactic nuclei with jets pointing towards us. To independently test this result and extend the analysis to a wider energy range, we use public data for all neutrino energies from seven years of IceCube observations. The IceCube point-source likelihood map is analyzed against the positions of blazars from a statistically complete sample selected by their compact radio flux density. The latter analysis delivers a 3.0 sigma significance with the combined post-trial significance of both studies being 4.1 sigma. The correlation is driven by a large number of blazars. Together with fainter but physically similar sources not included in the sample, they may explain the entire IceCube astrophysical neutrino flux as derived from muon-track analyses. The neutrinos can be produced in interactions of relativistic protons with X-ray self-Compton photons in parsec-scale blazar jets.

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Carpet-2 search for gamma rays above 100 TeV in coincidence with HAWC and IceCube alerts

We report on the search of astrophysical gamma rays with energies in the 100 TeV to several PeV range arriving in directional and temporal coincidence with public alerts from HAWC (TeV gamma rays) and IceCube (neutrinos above ~100 TeV). The observations have been performed with the Carpet-2 air-shower detector at the Baksan Neutrino Observatory, working in the "photon-friendly" mode since 2018. Photon candidate showers are selected by their low muon content. No significant excess of the photon candidates have been observed, and upper limits on gamma-ray fluences associated with the alerts are obtained. For events with good viewing conditions, the Carpet-2 effective area for photons is of the order of the IceCube effective area for neutrinos of the same energy, so the constraints start to probe the production of neutrinos in fast flares of Galactic sources.

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Observational evidence for the origin of high-energy neutrinos in parsec-scale nuclei of radio-bright active galaxies

Observational information on high-energy astrophysical neutrinos is being continuously collected by the IceCube observatory. However, the sources of neutrinos are still unknown. In this study, we use radio very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) data for a complete VLBI-flux-density limited sample of active galactic nuclei (AGN). We address the problem of the origin of astrophysical neutrinos with energies above 200 TeV in a statistical manner. It is found that AGN positionally associated with IceCube events have typically stronger parsec-scale cores than the rest of the sample. The post-trial probability of a chance coincidence is 0.2%. We select the four strongest AGN as highly probable associations: 3C 279, NRAO 530, PKS 1741-038, and PKS 2145+067. Moreover, we find an increase of radio emission at frequencies above 10 GHz around neutrino arrival times for several other VLBI-selected AGN on the basis of RATAN-600 monitoring. The most pronounced example of such behavior is PKS 1502+106. We conclude that AGN with bright Doppler-boosted jets constitute an important population of neutrino sources. High-energy neutrinos are produced in their central parsec-scale regions, probably in proton-photon interactions at or around the accretion disk. Radio-bright AGN that are likely associated with neutrinos have very diverse gamma-ray properties suggesting that gamma-rays and neutrinos may be produced in different regions of AGN and not directly related. A small viewing angle of the jet-disk axis is, however, required to detect either of them.

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Axion-like particles and the propagation of gamma rays over astronomical distances

In this mini-review, possible manifestations of mixing between axion-like particles (ALPs) and energetic photons propagating over astronomical distances are considered. We discuss the evidence for the anomalous transparency of the Universe from observations of ensembles of distant gamma-ray sources, present the general formalism for the ALP-photon mixing and explain how this mechanism may remove the anomaly. We present relevant values of ALP parameters and discuss future ways to verify the scenario and to discover the particle in question.

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Carpet results on astrophysical gamma rays above 100 TeV

Carpet is an air-shower array at Baksan, Russia, equipped with a large-area muon detector, which makes it possible to separate primary photons from hadrons. We report first results of the search for primary photons with energies E>100 TeV. The experiment's ongoing upgrade and future sensitivity are also discussed.

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Search for astrophysical PeV gamma rays from point sources with Carpet-2

Early results of the search for E_γ>1 PeV cosmic photons from point sources with the data of Carpet-2, an air-shower array equipped with a 175 m^2 muon detector, are presented. They include 95% CL upper limits on PeV photon fluxes from stacked directions of high-energy IceCube neutrino events and from four predefined sources, Crab, Cyg X-3, Mrk 421 and Mrk 501. An insignificant excess of events from Mrk 421 will be further monitored. Prospects of the use of the upgraded installation, Carpet-3 (410 m^2 muon detector), scheduled to start data taking in 2019, for searches of E_γ>100 TeV photons, are briefly discussed.

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Carpet-2 search for PeV gamma rays associated with IceCube high-energy neutrino events

Carpet-2 is an air-shower array at Baksan Valley, Russia, equipped with a large-area (175 m^2) muon detector, which makes it possible to separate primary photons from hadrons. We report the first results of the search for primary photons with energies E_γ>1 PeV, directionally associated with IceCube high-energy neutrino events, in the data obtained in 3080 days of Carpet-2 live time.

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