arXiv · 1206.2899
Diffuse Galactic Gamma Rays from Shock-Accelerated Cosmic Rays
Abstract
A shock-accelerated particle flux \propto p^-s, where p is the particle momentum, follows from simple theoretical considerations of cosmic-ray acceleration at nonrelativistic shocks followed by rigidity-dependent escape into the Galactic halo. A flux of shock-accelerated cosmic-ray protons with s ~ 2.8 provides an adequate fit to the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray emission spectra of high-latitude and molecular cloud gas when uncertainties in nuclear production models are considered. A break in the spectrum of cosmic-ray protons claimed by Neronov, Semikoz, & Taylor (PRL, 108, 051105, 2012) when fitting the gamma-ray spectra of high-latitude molecular clouds is a consequence of using a cosmic-ray proton flux described by a power law in kinetic energy.
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Charles D. Dermer. 2012-08-29. Diffuse Galactic Gamma Rays from Shock-Accelerated Cosmic Rays. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.109.091101
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