TeV Gamma-Rays from the Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 4278: Implications for the Diffuse Neutrino Background

Abstract

This work investigates the origin of the TeV emission detected by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) from NGC~4278, a galaxy hosting a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (LLAGN). Considering two plausible scenarios, AGN jets and winds, we model the X-ray, GeV, and TeV emission during both TeV-low (quasi-quiet) and TeV-high (active) states. The spectral energy distributions can be explained either by single-zone leptonic emission from moderately relativistic jets or by lepto-hadronic emission from sub-relativistic winds. The best-fit parameters suggest that the transition from the quasi-quiet to the active state may be driven jointly by an enhanced accretion rate and the jet deceleration or wind expansion. We further show that future MeV and very-high-energy $\gamma$-ray observations can discriminate between the leptonic and lepto-hadronic scenarios. Although the neutrino flux from NGC 4278 predicted by the wind model is too low to be detected with current neutrino observatories, a lepto-hadronic wind scenario can account for the PeV diffuse neutrino background when adopting a local LLAGN density ($n_{\mathrm{L},0}$) corrected for the TeV duty cycle ($\Delta T_{\mathrm{TeV}}/T$, the fraction of a LLAGN's lifetime spent in a TeV-emitting phase), $n_{\mathrm{L},0}(\Delta T_{\mathrm{TeV}}/T)\sim 10^{-5}\mathrm{Mp}{\mathrm{c}}^{-3}$, as inferred from the LHAASO detection.

11 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Updated the diffuse neutrino intensity. Accepted for publication in ApJ

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Cited by in corpus (1)

• Interpreting Swift and NuSTAR Observations of the Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 4278 with Radiatively Inefficient Accretion Flows and Implications for Neutrino Emission