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Hauptverfasser: Lai, Paul C. W., Crudele, Beatrice, Agostini, Matteo, Ng, Hayden P. H., Owen, Ellis R., Varma, Nishta, Wu, Kinwah
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11625
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author Lai, Paul C. W.
Crudele, Beatrice
Agostini, Matteo
Ng, Hayden P. H.
Owen, Ellis R.
Varma, Nishta
Wu, Kinwah
author_facet Lai, Paul C. W.
Crudele, Beatrice
Agostini, Matteo
Ng, Hayden P. H.
Owen, Ellis R.
Varma, Nishta
Wu, Kinwah
contents The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), a star-forming region rich in molecular clouds located within hundreds of parsecs from the centre of our Galaxy, converts gas into stars less efficiently than anticipated. A key challenge in refining star-formation models is the lack of precise mapping of these dense molecular hydrogen clouds, where traditional tracers often yield inconsistent results. We demonstrate how, in the near future, neutrinos will emerge as a robust mass tracer due to worldwide advancements in neutrino telescopes. Neutrinos are produced alongside gamma-rays when cosmic-rays interact with molecular clouds. The neutrino production rate is proportional to the gas density without dependence on the complex properties of a cloud. Neutrinos also have the advantage of negligible absorption and unambiguous production channels, making it a method with the lowest systematic uncertainties. In an optimistic case where most gamma-ray emission from the Galactic Centre region originates from pion decays, we expect several tens of muon neutrinos to be detected in about two decades. Neutrinos from the CMZ will provide indications on the biases of traditional mass tracers and thus indirectly enhance the accuracy of gas measurements in far galaxies from which a neutrino signal is not detectable.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_11625
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Neutrinos as a new tool to characterise the Milky Way Centre
Lai, Paul C. W.
Crudele, Beatrice
Agostini, Matteo
Ng, Hayden P. H.
Owen, Ellis R.
Varma, Nishta
Wu, Kinwah
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Experiment
The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), a star-forming region rich in molecular clouds located within hundreds of parsecs from the centre of our Galaxy, converts gas into stars less efficiently than anticipated. A key challenge in refining star-formation models is the lack of precise mapping of these dense molecular hydrogen clouds, where traditional tracers often yield inconsistent results. We demonstrate how, in the near future, neutrinos will emerge as a robust mass tracer due to worldwide advancements in neutrino telescopes. Neutrinos are produced alongside gamma-rays when cosmic-rays interact with molecular clouds. The neutrino production rate is proportional to the gas density without dependence on the complex properties of a cloud. Neutrinos also have the advantage of negligible absorption and unambiguous production channels, making it a method with the lowest systematic uncertainties. In an optimistic case where most gamma-ray emission from the Galactic Centre region originates from pion decays, we expect several tens of muon neutrinos to be detected in about two decades. Neutrinos from the CMZ will provide indications on the biases of traditional mass tracers and thus indirectly enhance the accuracy of gas measurements in far galaxies from which a neutrino signal is not detectable.
title Neutrinos as a new tool to characterise the Milky Way Centre
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11625