Multimessenger Constraints on Intergalactic Magnetic Fields from the Flare of TXS 0506+056

Abstract

The origin of magnetic fields in the universe is an open problem. Seed magnetic fields possibly produced in early times may have survived up to the present day close to their original form, providing an untapped window to the primeval universe. The recent observations of high-energy neutrinos from the blazar TXS 0506+056 in association with an electromagnetic counterpart in a broad range of wavelengths can be used to probe intergalactic magnetic fields via the time delay between the neutrinos and gamma-rays as well as the time dependence of the gamma-ray fluxes. Using extensive three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations, we constrain both the magnetic-field strength and, for the first time, its coherence length, considering six orders of magnitude for each.