Charmed Galaxies

¹ Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Physik IV, insb. Plasma-Astroteilchenphysik, Fakultät für Physik & Astronomie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
² Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
³ Ruhr Astroparticle and Plasma Physics Center (RAPP Center), Germany
⁴ Fakultät für Physik, Technische Universität Dortmund, 44221 Dortmund, Germany

^* e-mail: julia.tjus@rub.de
^** e-mail: wolfgang.rhode@tu-dortmund.de

Published online: 8 December 2023

Abstract

The quest for finding the origins of cosmic rays has been going on for many decades. Cosmic rays as charged particles react to cosmic magnetic fields and typically travel in diffusive motion through the Universe. Their imprint on Earth therefore holds little information on their origin, and finding the sources of cosmic rays is a major challenge. The question of their origins has been a leading questions in physics and astrophysics in the past decades. To solve this riddle, a multimessenger approach is used, including cosmic-ray interaction products in the searches, specifically gamma-rays and neutrinos produced in the resulting particle showers. In this multimessenger picture, the detection of high-energy neutrinos from the cosmos by IceCube - as a unique tracer of cosmic rays - is an important piece of the puzzle. First evidence for neutrino emission from the active galaxies TXS0506+056 and NGC1068 indicates that a significant fraction comes from such sources. In this paper, the intriguing fact that gamma-rays seem to be absorbed in these sources discussed. The possibility of neutrinos being produced in regions of high photon or gas densities, together with the possibility of in the future revealing neutrinos from the decay of charmed particles, will be investigated, possibly opening a window to Charmed Galaxies.