arXiv subjects

Yoshiyuki Inoue

Publications and source records attributed to Yoshiyuki Inoue.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

XRISM Time-resolved Fe K$\alpha$ Spectroscopy of NGC 4395: Time-variable Inner-disk Emission

We report the first XRISM observation of the low-mass AGN in the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 4395 ($M_{\rm BH}\sim10^{4-5}\,M_\odot$), complemented by a simultaneous NuSTAR observation. We constrained the continuum by jointly fitting the XRISM/Resolve (2-12 keV) and NuSTAR (3-30 keV) spectra while excluding the Fe K band (5.5-7.5 keV). Relative to this baseline continuum, the time-averaged Resolve spectrum revealed an unresolved neutral Fe K$\alpha$ core with a velocity width of $\lesssim$110 km s$^{-1}$ and an adjacent redward wing. The red wing was well reproduced by an additional relativistically broadened Fe K component. Furthermore, time-resolved spectroscopy with $\approx$87 ks bins showed that the diskline profile varied significantly over the $\sim$400 ks observation. This evolution can be interpreted in terms of changes in the inner radius of the line-emitting region, together with a possible inclination modulation with a period of $\approx$210 ks. If interpreted as Lense-Thirring precession of a tilted inner flow, the observed period would favor the low end of the black hole mass estimates ($M_{\rm BH}\approx9\times10^3\,M_\odot$) and imply a moderate spin ($a\gtrsim0.6$). These results highlight the capability of XRISM to track relativistic disk dynamics in AGNs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Revisiting Disk Winds in Active Galactic Nuclei as an Origin of Cosmic Gamma-ray and Neutrino Backgrounds

The origin of the cosmic neutrino background (CNB) and the cosmic gamma-ray background (CGB) remains uncertain. Accretion disk winds driven by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have been proposed as possible contributors, but their predicted background levels depend sensitively on poorly constrained wind energetics and ambient densities. We revisit the AGN disk-wind scenario by constructing a lepto-hadronic wind model calibrated with radio and GeV gamma-ray data of nearby Fermi-LAT-detected Seyfert galaxies. In our framework, cosmic rays accelerated both at wind-driven forward and reverse shocks produce synchrotron, external-Compton, and hadronic emission. We also incorporate recent XRISM constraints on wind parameters. Applying our calibrated lepto-hadronic models to an AGN population synthesis model, we find that disk winds contribute at most $\lesssim 5\%$ of the CGB above 10 GeV and $\lesssim 10\%$ of the CNB around 100 TeV, suggesting that they are unlikely to dominate both backgrounds. Finally, we identify nearby Seyfert galaxies hosting ultrafast outflows as promising targets for future TeV gamma-ray and TeV$-$PeV neutrino observations, which would offer firm tests of the disk-wind scenario.

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arXiv2026

GREX-PLUS Science Book v2

GREX-PLUS (Galaxy Reionization EXplorer and PLanetary Universe Spectrometer) is a mission candidate for a JAXA strategic L-class mission to be launched in the 2030s. Its primary science goals are two-fold: galaxy formation and evolution, and planetary system formation and evolution. The GREX-PLUS spacecraft will carry a telescope with a 1 m primary mirror aperture cooled down to 50 K. The two science instruments will be onboard: a wide-field camera in the 2--8 $\mu$m wavelength band and a high-resolution spectrometer with a wavelength resolution of 30,000 in the 10--18 $\mu$m band. The GREX-PLUS wide-field camera aims to detect the first generation of galaxies at redshift $z>15$. The GREX-PLUS high-resolution spectrometer aims to identify the location of the water ``snowline'' in protoplanetary disks. Both instruments will provide unique datasets for a broad range of scientific topics, including galaxy mass assembly, the origin of supermassive blackholes, infrared background radiation, molecular spectroscopy in the interstellar medium, transit spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres, planetary atmospheres in the Solar System, and so on. This document is the second version of a collection of scientific themes that can be achieved with GREX-PLUS. Each section in Chapters~2 and 3 is based on presentations at several GREX-PLUS Science Workshops.

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arXiv2026

Locating the Production Sites of High-Energy Neutrinos in Blazar Jets

The production sites of high-energy neutrinos in blazar jets remain poorly constrained. In this work, we investigate the physical conditions required for efficient neutrino production by using radio-constrained jet properties to evaluate the radial evolution of the external-to-magnetic energy density ratio (Compton dominance $Y$). We identify $Y \gg 1$ as the key physical condition for efficient neutrino production, as it simultaneously enhances photohadronic interactions and suppresses synchrotron radiation from secondary pairs, thereby avoiding an excess of hard X-ray emission. We find that such large values of $Y$ are most readily achieved near or within the broad-line region. This large-$Y$ condition is generally incompatible with reproducing the observed broadband spectral energy distribution within a single emission region, naturally indicating that the neutrino-emitting region is physically distinct from the dominant electromagnetic emission zone. We further show that such a scenario can be realized either if the jet completes its acceleration within sub-parsec scales or if the bulk Lorentz factor is intrinsically large, both of which appear uncommon based on current observations. These results offer a physically motivated framework for identifying neutrino production sites, provide a natural explanation for the rarity of blazar--neutrino associations, and underscore the importance of constraining jet property at sub-parsec scales in the search for neutrino-emitting blazars.

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arXiv2026

An AGN in the Antennae galaxies ?

Time variability is a strong probe of energetic phenomena which occur at small spatial scales, like Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). We use ALMA observations at 100 GHz executed over a period of 2.5 months to look for time variability in the Antennae galaxies, a prototypical early stage merger galaxy pair, for which there are no previous signatures of an AGN in the optical, infrared or X-ray. Most 100 GHz detections in the Antennae are spatially extended and associated with star forming regions, but two sources in the southern galaxy NGC 4039 are compact. One of these compact sources, S3, is offset by 1 arcsecond in the northeast direction from the stellar peak of NGC 4039, and marginally resolved at 10 parsec resolution. The other source, S4, is co-spatial with the stellar peak of NGC 4039 and unresolved even at a resolution of 4 parsec. We examine the time variability of these two sources using their power spectrum. We find that S4 varies with a characteristic timescale of 13+/-3 days, indicating that the phenomena responsible for the 100 GHz emission is smaller than 0.01 parsecs. By comparing the observed flux of the two sources with various candidate origins, we show that while S3 can be explained either by a young massive stellar cluster or an AGN, S4 is likely to be an AGN that is possibly Compton-thick.

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arXiv2026

The 'Forgotten' Neutrons: Implications for the Propagation of High-Energy Cosmic Rays in Magnetized Astrophysical and Cosmological Structures

Cosmological filaments, galaxy clusters, and galaxies are magnetized reservoirs of cosmic rays (CRs). The exchange of CRs across these structures is usually modeled assuming that they remain charged and magnetically confined. At high energies, hadronic interactions can convert CR protons to neutrons. This physics is routinely included in air-shower and ultra-high-energy (UHE) CR propagation Monte Carlo simulations used for composition studies but is rarely treated explicitly in propagation models of CR transport and exchange between magnetized reservoirs. CR neutrons are not affected by magnetic fields and can propagate ballistically over kpc-Mpc distances before decaying back into protons, with relativistic time dilation extending their effective decay length. We show how such charged-neutral switching modifies CR confinement and escape in four representative environments: a Milky Way-like galaxy, a starburst galaxy, a galaxy cluster, and a cosmological filament. By solving the transport of a confined CR proton population in each structure using a diffusion/streaming propagation approach with hadronic pp and p$\gamma$ interactions, and treating neutron production and decay as a stochastic Poisson ''jump'' process, we find that neutron-mediated steps can allow additional CR escape from large-scale cosmological structures at energies where charged-particle transport alone would predict strong CR confinement and attenuation in ambient radiation fields. These effects imply a qualitative shift in how ultra-high-energy CRs are transferred from embedded sources into filaments and voids once intermediate neutron propagation is considered, with consequences for the partitioning of CRs across the large-scale structure of the Universe.

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arXiv2026

Forecasting Supermassive Black Hole Binary Gravitational Wave Probes: Prospects for Future Pulsar Timing Array and Space-Borne Detectors

We present a comprehensive framework for predicting the detection prospects of supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) by future gravitational wave (GW) observatories, examining both space-borne detectors (LISA, Taiji, TianQin) and next-generation pulsar timing array (PTA) combined with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-PTA). Leveraging dual active galactic nucleus (AGN) fractions and AGN X-ray luminosity functions, we systematically evaluate the detectable SMBHB populations with a detection threshold of signal-to-noise ratio $\geq 5$ for each GW observatory. Our analysis reveals that space-borne detectors are expected to identify approximately $\sim 1 \text{--} 2$ to $\sim 20$ events per year, depending on the SMBHB orbital evolution prescriptions. On the other hand, SKA-PTA demonstrates the potential to reach the first GW detection from individual SMBHBs within a few years of observation and achieve detectable GW source counts of $10^2 \text{--} 10^3$ after about 10 years, depending on PTA configurations. These facilities will significantly improve SMBHB detectability and enable characterization of their properties across different frequency bands.

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arXiv2026

Proton Acceleration by Collisionless Shocks in Supermassive Black Hole Coronae: Implications for High-Energy Neutrinos

Recent observations by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory have revealed a significant excess of high-energy neutrinos from nearby Seyfert galaxies, such as NGC~1068, without a corresponding flux of high-energy gamma-rays. This suggests that neutrinos are produced via hadronic interactions in a region opaque to gamma-rays, likely a hot corona surrounding the central supermassive black hole. However, the mechanism responsible for accelerating the parent protons to the required energies ($\sim 100$ TeV) remains an open question. In this study, we investigate diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in active galactic nucleus (AGN) coronae using a suite of one-dimensional Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations spanning a broad range of plasma parameters. We find that DSA is a robust and efficient mechanism for proton acceleration, consistently channeling approximately 10\% of the shock's kinetic energy into non-thermal ions, even for shocks with sonic Mach number as low as $ M_s \approx 2$. In contrast, the efficiency of electron acceleration is highly variable and less efficient ($<1\%$) in our parameter survey. These findings provide strong, first-principles support for the hadronic models of neutrino production in AGN and offer quantitative constraints that can explain the observed gamma-ray deficit.

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arXiv2025

Coherence of Supermassive Black Hole Binary Demographics with the nHz Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background

We present a refined estimation of the stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) based on observed dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs) together with AGN X-ray luminosity functions, in light of recent Pulsar Timing Array detections of an nHz SGWB. We identify a characteristic luminosity dependence in dual AGN fractions by compiling recent observational datasets, providing crucial constraints on supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) populations. Our AGN-based model reproduces the current SGWB measurements within PTA observational uncertainties of $2 - 4 \sigma$ uncertainties, demonstrating consistency between electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations. These findings establish SMBHBs as the dominant source of the nHz gravitational wave signal, providing crucial insights into their demographics and evolution.

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arXiv2025

The first proper motion measurement of the acceleration regions in the large-scale jets of SS 433 powering the W50 nebula

We report on new Chandra ACIS-I observations of the X-ray knots located in the western and eastern lobes of W50 associated with the parsec-scale jets of the Galactic microquasar SS 433. These knots are likely counterparts of the recently detected very-high-energy ($E>100$ GeV) gamma-ray emission by HAWC and H.E.S.S. These findings, together with the ultra-high-energy signal recently reported by the LHAASO collaboration, have established the SS 433/W50 system as a unique jet-driven PeVatron candidate. Combining new and archival Chandra data, we perform the first proper motion search of the X-ray knot structures over a time interval spanning approximately 20 years. We found no statistically significant motion of these knots at the 3$\sigma$ confidence level, and place an upper limit of $<$ 0.019-0.033$c$ (5,800-9,800 km s$^{-1}$) for the speed of the innermost knots at an assumed distance $d=5.5$ kpc. Combined with the velocities reported in the literature, the upstream speed in the shock rest frame would reach several 10$^4$ km s$^{-1}$, suggesting that highly efficient particle acceleration, approaching the Bohm limit, is occurring. The absence of significant motion of the knots suggests the presence of a standing recollimation shock, formed by the balance between the jet pressure and the external pressure. This interpretation is consistent with the expected occurrence of such shocks at 20-30 pc from SS 433, matching the location of the observed knots.

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arXiv2025

GeV-TeV Connections in Galaxies: Evolutionary Signatures from Pulsars in Globular Clusters

The dominant mechanisms underlying high-energy $\gamma$-ray emission from galaxies vary by galaxy type. In starbursts, a major contribution comes from neutral pion decay. This is driven by interactions between interstellar gas and hadronic cosmic rays (CRs), which are accelerated in strong shocks associated star formation activity and stellar remnants. Leptonic $\gamma$-ray emission can also arise from electrons directly energized in interstellar shocks, produced via charged pion decays, or emitted by pulsars and their surrounding halos. In quiescent galaxies, pulsars and their halos can represent a major $\gamma$-ray source class, with millisecond pulsars predominantly located in globular clusters (GCs) being particularly important. Recent detections of very high-energy (VHE) emission from Galactic GCs suggests they may also contribute to the TeV $\gamma$-ray flux from evolved galaxies. We consider a scenario where this VHE emission from GCs is powered by electrons accelerated in communal stellar/pulsar wind cluster termination shocks. These electrons undergo inverse Compton scattering as they propagate into GC magnetotails. Our results show that the high-energy emission from GCs can be an important contributor to the GeV and TeV flux from massive, quiescent galaxies. The relative strength of each component depends on the global galactic properties and its evolutionary history.

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arXiv2025

ALMA observation of evolving magnetized corona in the radio-quiet changing-state AGN NGC 1566

The origin of compact millimeter (mm) continuum emission from radio-quiet AGNs (RQAGNs) is still not fully understood. Changing-state AGNs (CSAGNs) display rapid and strong variability, which can allow us to investigate the origin of the mm emission. We present here the results of the first study of the mm continuum variability of a CSAGN using archival ALMA band 6 ($\sim 230$ GHz) observations of NGC 1566 obtained in 2014-2023. We find a positive correlation between the mm and X-ray flux with an intrinsic scatter of 0.05 dex ($1\sigma$), suggesting a common origin. The mm spectral index ($\alpha_{\rm mm}$) is found in the range of $0.13\pm0.38$ to $-0.26\pm0.53$, consistent with a compact optically thick synchrotron source. No significant correlation was found between the $\alpha_{\rm mm}$ and the mm flux. The mm/X-ray ratio also shows no clear link to the Eddington ratio but is higher in the low-accretion state. We discuss several scenarios about the origin of the mm emission in NGC 1566. We find that synchrotron emission in the magnetized X-ray corona appears to be the most probable origin of mm emission, confirming that mm emission can be used as a tracer of AGN activity in RQAGNs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

X-ray Study on Propagation of Non-thermal Particles in Microquasar SS 433/W 50 Extended Jets

SS 433, located at the center of the W 50 radio nebula, is a binary system that ejects jets oriented east-west with precessional motion. X-ray lobes, containing compact "knots" labeled as head (e1), lenticular (e2), and ring (e3) in the east, as well as w1, w1.5, and w2 in the west, have been detected along the jets directions. Very-high-energy {\gamma}-ray emission has also been detected from regions containing these X-ray knots, suggesting highly efficient particle acceleration in the jets. In our previous study, we performed X-ray imaging spectroscopy of the western lobe of W 50 to investigate spectral variations. In this work, we extend our study to the eastern region using XMM-Newton observations to provide a more comprehensive picture of the X-ray emission from the SS 433 jets. Our results show no detectable synchrotron emission between SS 433 and the innermost knot (head). We also found that the X-ray spectrum of the eastern jet gradually steepens as one moves away from SS 433. While a similar spectral evolution is observed in the western jet, there are also noticeable differences. In the western lobe, the spectrum initially gradually steepens and then undergoes an abrupt softening outside the knot w2. However, in the eastern jet, no such rapid steepening is observed at the lenticular knot, which corresponds to w2 in the west. Furthermore, the observed brightening and spectral variations in the eastern jet cannot be explained by simply adjusting the parameters of the model used for the western side, suggesting the involvement of additional physical processes such as particle re-acceleration.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

High energy extragalactic multimessenger backgrounds from starburst and dead galaxies

Starburst galaxies are $γ$-ray sources. Canonically, their emission is driven by hadronic cosmic rays (CRs) interacting with interstellar gas, forming $γ$-rays via the decay of neutral pions. Charged pions are also formed in this process. They decay into secondary leptons, including electrons and neutrinos. Starburst galaxies are therefore also expected to be neutrino sources, and their high-energy $γ$-ray emission may include a secondary leptonic component. Leptonic $γ$-rays may also originate from electrons directly energized by shocks within the interstellar medium of galaxies, or from pulsars and their surrounding halos. In the Milky Way, pulsars/pulsar halos are the dominant $γ$-ray source class. They are associated with stellar remnants or old stellar populations, and are presumably abundant in old galaxies. In this work, we show that the collective high-energy emission from galaxies can account for only a fraction of extragalactic neutrinos, but can form a major component of the extragalactic $γ$-ray background. Contrary to the traditional view, a substantial fraction of this radiation may originate from leptonic processes, including from old, quiescent galaxies.

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arXiv2025

Cosmic ray neutrons in magnetized astrophysical structures

Cosmic rays are often modeled as charged particles. This allows their non-ballistic propagation in magnetized structures to be captured. In certain situations, a neutral cosmic ray component can arise. For example, cosmic ray neutrons are produced in considerable numbers through hadronic pp and p$γ$ interactions. At ultrahigh energies, the decay timescales of these neutrons is dilated, allowing them to traverse distances on the scale of galactic and cosmological structures. Unlike charged cosmic rays, neutrons are not deflected by magnetic fields. They propagate ballistically at the speed of light in straight lines. The presence of a neutral baryonic cosmic ray component formed in galaxies, clusters and cosmological filaments can facilitate the escape and leakage of cosmic rays from magnetic structures that would otherwise confine them. We show that, by allowing confinement breaking, the formation of cosmic-ray neutrons by high-energy hadronic interactions in large scale astrophysical structures can modify the exchange of ultra high-energy particles across magnetic interfaces between galaxies, clusters, cosmological filaments and voids.

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arXiv2025

The Moon as a Cosmic-Ray Spectrometer: Prospects for MeV Gamma-Ray Observations

The Moon is the closest celestial gamma-ray emitting object. Its gamma-ray emission arises from interactions between Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) and the lunar surface. While the lunar GeV gamma-ray spectrum is dominated by a continuum from hadronic decay processes, the MeV emission exhibits both continuum and distinctive spectral lines from nuclear de-excitation and radioactive decay processes. Using Geant4 Monte Carlo particle simulations, we model the lunar gamma-ray spectrum. Our results demonstrate its consistency with Fermi-LAT observations, and predict that next-generation MeV gamma-ray instruments will detect both the lunar MeV continuum and several key spectral line features, notably the $1.779~\mathrm{MeV}$ line from $\mathrm{^{28}Si}$ de-excitation enhanced by the lunar surface composition, the $e^+e^-$ annihilation line, and radioactive decay lines from $\mathrm{^{22}Na}$ ($\tau\approx3.75\,\mathrm{yr}$) and long-lived $\mathrm{^{26}Al}$ ($\tau\approx1\,\mathrm{Myr}$). These gamma-ray lines are sensitive to CRs with energies $\lesssim1\,\mathrm{GeV\,nuc^{-1}}$, offering unique temporal probes of CR activity over different timescales. Observations of the lunar MeV gamma-ray spectrum will therefore open a new window to study the current irradiation of the solar-terrestrial environment by low-energy CRs and its long-term temporal evolution.

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arXiv2025

Neutrinos and gamma rays from beta decays in an active galactic nucleus NGC 1068 jet

We show that TeV neutrinos and high-energy gamma rays detected from the nearby active galaxy NGC 1068 can simultaneously be explained in a model based on the beta decays of neutrons produced in the photodisintegration of 4He nuclei on ultraviolet photons in the jet. The photodisintegration of nuclei occurs at energies above several PeV, which explains the 1-100 TeV energies of the observed neutrinos. The TeV gamma-ray flux accompanying the beta decays is expected to be much lower than the neutrino flux, which agrees with the observations of NGC 1068 showing a gamma-ray deficit as compared to the expectations from proton-photon interactions. Furthermore, the synchrotron and inverse Compton gamma-ray flux associated with protons' Bethe-Heitler pair production and the photopion processes in the jet can be consistent with the observed gamma-ray flux at GeV energies for a plausible range of magnetic fields of jets. This scenario, combining beta decay and Bethe-Heitler, can be applied to other jet Seyfert galaxies such as NGC 4151. Future measurements of the neutrino flavor ratio can help confirm the beta-decay origin of the observed neutrinos.

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arXiv2025

On the possible contributions of two nearby blazars to the NGC 4151 neutrino hotspot

The origin of the high-energy astrophysical neutrinos discovered by IceCube remains unclear, with both blazars and Seyfert galaxies emerging as potential sources. Recently, the IceCube Collaboration reported a ${\sim}{3}σ$ neutrino signal from the direction of a nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151. However, two gamma-ray loud BL Lac objects, 4FGL 1210.3+3928 and 4FGL J1211.6+3901, lie close to NGC 4151, at angular distances of 0.08$^\circ$ and 0.43$^\circ$, respectively. We investigate the potential contribution of these two blazars to the observed neutrino signal from the direction of NGC 4151 and assess their detectability with future neutrino observatories. We model the multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions of both blazars using a self-consistent numerical radiation code, AM$^3$. We calculate their neutrino spectra and compare them to the measured NGC 4151 neutrino spectrum and future neutrino detector sensitivities. Our models predict neutrino emission peaking at $\sim$10$^{17}$ eV for both blazars, with fluxes of ${\sim}10^{-12}~\mathrm{erg~cm^{-2}~s^{-1}}$. This indicates their contribution to the $\sim$10 TeV neutrino signal observed from the direction of NGC 4151 is minor. While detection with current facilities is challenging, both sources should be detectable by future radio-based neutrino telescopes such as IceCube-Gen2's radio array and GRAND, with 4FGL~J1210.3+3928 being the more promising candidate.

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