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Abstract

Based on the observation of the active galaxies NGC 1068 and TXS 0506+056, and on additional evidence for the sources NGC 4151, CGCG 420-015, NGC 7469, and the Circinus Galaxy emerging from IceCube data, we make the case for the production of high-energy neutrinos within a few gravitational radii of supermassive black holes surrounded by a dense plasma radiating X-rays. X-rays represents the target for the production of neutrinos by protons accelerated near the black hole; they also absorb the gamma rays from the decay of neutral pions produced in the same interactions. Neutrinos with energies of tens of TeV and above originate in photoproduction interactions with X-rays of $0.1 \sim 1$\,keV energy on the $Δ$ resonance, $p + γ\rightarrow Δ\rightarrow n + π^+$. Our analysis of the multimessenger data points to gamma-ray-obscured sources with a characteristic neutrino flux linearly proportional to the X-ray flux originating within $\sim 10$ gravitational radii of the black holes, with lower values preferred. We speculate on such sources producing the diffuse flux of neutrinos and cosmic rays of extragalactic origin.

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