Solving the Multimessenger Puzzle of the AGN-starburst Composite Galaxy NGC 1068

Abstract

Multiwavelength observations indicate that some starburst galaxies show a dominant nonthermal contribution from their central region. These active galactic nuclei (AGN)-starburst composites are of special interest, as both phenomena on their own are potential sources of highly energetic cosmic rays and associated γ -ray and neutrino emission. In this work, a homogeneous, steady-state two-zone multimessenger model of the nonthermal emission from the AGN corona as well as the circumnuclear starburst region is developed and subsequently applied to the case of NGC 1068, which has recently shown some first indications of high-energy neutrino emission. Here, we show that the entire spectrum of multimessenger data—from radio to γ -rays including the neutrino constraint—can be described very well if both, starburst and AGN corona, are taken into account. Using only a single emission region is not sufficient.