Speaker
Description
Exploring large-scale environments in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) typically relies on the analysis of absorption and emission lines in their optical spectrum. However, in BL Lac objects - a category of AGNs with the relativistic jet pointing directly to the observer - the dominant non-thermal emission from the relativistic jet obscures the optical spectrum. Consequently, identifying the optical thermal emission of photon fields emitted by large-scale environmental structures becomes challenging.
Despite this complexity, these environmental photon fields may interact with gamma rays of the blazar jet through gamma-gamma pair production. This interaction reduces the original flux of gamma rays emitted by the source and produces observable absorption features in its spectral energy distribution. Interestingly, the same photon fields can trigger proton-photon interactions, acting as targets for the production of high-energy neutrinos.
In this contribution, we discuss the crucial role of gamma-ray observations in unveiling absorption features in the spectra of BL Lac objects, and we will demonstrate how these absorption features are directly connected to the production of high-energy neutrinos. Additionally, we will present a set of simulations that will investigate the most effective physical conditions that produce fluxes of neutrinos compatible with the sensitivities of the current and the next generation of neutrino detectors.
