Gamma-ray emission from the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 and multimessenger implications for ultra-fast outflows

The enhanced activity typical of the core of Seyfert galaxies can drive powerful winds where high-energy phenomena can occur. In spite of their high power content, the number of such non-jetted active galactic nuclei (AGN) detected in gamma rays is very limited. In this Letter, we report the identification and measurement of the gamma-ray flux from NGC 4151, a Seyfert galaxy located at about 15.8 Mpc. The source is known for hosting ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) in its innermost core through X-ray spectroscopic observations, thereby becoming the first UFO host ever recognized in gamma rays. UFOs are mildly relativistic, wide opening angle winds detected in the innermost parsecs of active galaxies where strong shocks can develop. We interpret the gamma-ray flux as a result of diffusive shock acceleration at the wind termination shock of the UFO and inelastic hadronic collisions in its environment. Interestingly, NGC 4151 is also spatially coincident with a weak excess of neutrino events identified by the IceCube neutrino observatory. We compute the contribution of the UFO to such a neutrino excess and we discuss other possible emission regions such as the AGN corona.
Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables (including appendix); submitted to MNRAS Letters; comments are welcome