Can magnetic reconnection power neutrino emission from AGN coronae?

We investigate whether reconnection of small-scale current sheets in transrelativistic supermassive black hole coronae can supply the nonthermal protons needed for high-energy neutrino emission, using NGC 1068 as a test case. The new analysis still awaits peer review, but it already lays out the central claim clearly.

This matters because astrophysics becomes persuasive only when an observed signal can be tied to a physically defensible explanation. Compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes are natural laboratories for extreme physics, but the distance and complexity of these systems make interpretation difficult without multi-wavelength coverage and careful modeling. A detection without a mechanism is only half a result. the other half comes from showing that the signal fits quantitatively inside a coherent physical picture rather than merely being consistent with a broad family of models. We investigate whether reconnection of small-scale current sheets in transrelativistic supermassive black hole (SMBH) coronae can supply the nonthermal protons needed for. We model the corona as a strongly turbulent, low-$β$, collisionless hydrogen plasma with characteristic size $r_{\rm co}$, magnetic field strength $B$, proton density $n_p$, and.

Combining the observed IceCube-band neutrino luminosity with the X-ray luminosity and Thomson optical depth reduces these coronal quantities to a one-parameter family. Across this family, the proton magnetization $σ_p \equiv B^2/(4πn_p m_p c^2)$ is transrelativistic with $σ_p \sim 0.3$.

In this regime, we show that repeated encounters with intermittent reconnecting current sheets can energize suprathermal protons up to tens of PeV before photomeson cooling limits. These injected particles may then be further processed by stochastic interactions with the turbulent cascade.

Motivated by PIC simulations of strong turbulence at comparable magnetization, we adopt a nonthermal proton spectrum with an independently specified index and find that the.

The broader interest lies in turning an observational clue into something that can be weighed against competing models of the underlying physics. Astrophysics does not have the luxury of controlled experiments; everything is inferred from radiation that traveled across cosmic distances under conditions that cannot be reproduced in a terrestrial laboratory. This makes the interpretation chain longer and more uncertain than in bench science, but it also means that a well-constrained measurement of an extreme object carries theoretical information that no earthbound experiment can provide.

Because this is still a preprint, the result should be read with genuine interest and proportionate caution. Peer review is not a guarantee of correctness, but it is a process that forces authors to respond to technical criticism from specialists who have no stake in a particular outcome. Preprints that survive that process, often with substantive revisions, emerge with a stronger evidential base than the version that first appeared. Until that stage is complete, the responsible reading keeps uncertainty explicitly visible rather than treating the claims as established findings.

The next step is to see whether independent datasets and physical modeling converge on the same interpretation. Multi-wavelength follow-up, combining X-ray, radio and optical data where possible, is typically what separates a compelling detection from a robust physical characterization. In high-energy astrophysics, results that initially looked definitive have been revised when data from a second messenger arrived; the current result should be read with that history in mind. Until peer review and independent follow-up address those open questions, skepticism is not a failure of appreciation for the work; it is part of how science decides what to keep.

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