SIGNATURES OF HADRONIC COSMIC RAYS IN STARBURSTS? HIGH-ENERGY PHOTONS AND NEUTRINOS FROM NGC 253

GUSTAVO E. ROMERO; DIEGO F. TORRES

ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

Chicago University Press

Lugar: Chicago; Año: 2003 vol. 586 p. 33 - 36

0004-637X

We show that it appears possible for starburst galaxies, like the nearby NGC 253, recently identified as a TeV source by the CANGAROO collaboration, to emit a significant amount of high-energy g-rays and neutrinos through hadronic processes in their cores. We suggest that proton illumination of the inner winds of massive stars can be a viable mechanism for producing TeV g-rays and neutrinos without a strong MeV–GeV counterpart. The rich stellar content of the starbursts, with millions of early-type stars concentrated in the central regions, where collective effects of the stellar winds and supernovae can produce a significant enhancement of the cosmicray density, provides an adequate scenario for TeV g-ray generation. Close starbursts are also found to be potential sources for kilometer-scale neutrino telescopes, like IceCube, within reasonable integration times.