Oscillating Neutrinos from the Galactic Center

Abstract

It has recently been demonstrated that the $γ$-ray emission spectrum of the EGRET-identified, central Galactic source 2EG J1746-2852 can be well fitted by positing that these photons are generated by the decay of $π^0$'s produced in p-p scattering at or near an energizing shock. Such scattering also produces charged pions which decay leptonically.The ratio of $γ$-rays to neutrinos generated by the central Galactic source may be accurately determined and a well-defined and potentially-measurable high energy neutrino flux at Earth is unavoidable. An opportunity, therefore, to detect neutrino oscillations over an unprecedented scale is offered by this source. In this paper we assess the prospects for such an observation with the generation of neutrino Čerenkov telescopes now in the planning stage. We determine that the next generation of detectors may find an oscillation signature in the Galactic Center (GC) signal.