Neutrinos as a new tool to characterize the Milky Way Center

The central molecular zone (CMZ), a star-forming region rich in molecular clouds located within hundreds of parsecs from the center of our Galaxy, converts gas into stars less efficiently than anticipated. A key challenge in refining star-formation models is the lack of precise mapping of these dense molecular hydrogen clouds, where traditional tracers often yield inconsistent results. We demonstrate how, in the near future, neutrinos will emerge as a robust mass tracer due to worldwide advancements in neutrino telescopes. Neutrinos are produced alongside gamma-rays when cosmic-rays interact with molecular clouds. The neutrino production rate is proportional to the gas density without dependence on the complex properties of a cloud. Neutrinos also have the advantage of negligible absorption and unambiguous production channels, making it a method with the lowest systematic uncertainties. In an optimistic case where most gamma-ray emission from the Galactic Center region originates from pion decays, we expect several tens of muon neutrinos to be detected in about two decades. Neutrinos from the CMZ will provide indications on the biases of traditional mass tracers and thus indirectly enhance the accuracy of gas measurements in far galaxies from which a neutrino signal is not detectable.