arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to I. V. Moskalenko.
Cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar gas and photons produce diffuse gamma-ray emission. In this talk we will review the current understanding of this diffuse emission and its relationship to the problem of the origin of cosmic rays. We will discuss the open issues and what progress might be possible with GLAST, which is planned for launch in 2006.
High-energy collisions of cosmic-ray nuclei with interstellar gas are believed to be the mechanism producing the majority of cosmic ray antiprotons. Due to the kinematics of the process they are created with a nonzero momentum; the characteristic spectral shape with a maximum at ~2 GeV and a sharp decrease towards lower energies makes antiprotons a unique probe of models for particle propagation in the Galaxy and modulation in the heliosphere. On the other hand, accurate calculation of the secondary antiproton flux provides a ``background'' for searches for exotic signals from the annihilation of supersymmetric particles and primordial black hole evaporation. Recently new data with large statistics on both low and high energy antiproton fluxes have become available which allow such tests to be performed. We use our propagation code GALPROP to calculate interstellar cosmic-ray propagation for a variety of models. We show that there is no simple model capable of accurately describing the whole variety of data: boron/carbon and sub-iron/iron ratios, spectra of protons, helium, antiprotons, positrons, electrons, and diffuse gamma rays. We find that only a model with a break in the diffusion coefficient plus convection can reproduce measurements of cosmic-ray species, and the reproduction of primaries (p, He) can be further improved by introducing a break in the primary injection spectra. For our best-fit model we make predictions of proton and antiproton fluxes near the Earth for different modulation levels and magnetic polarity using a steady-state drift model of propagation in the heliosphere.
We use a new version of our numerical model for particle propagation in the Galaxy to study radioactive secondaries. For evaluation of the production cross sections we use the Los Alamos compilation of all available experimental cross sections together with calculations using the improved Cascade-Exciton Model code CEM2k. Using the radioactive secondary ratios 26Al/27Al, 36Cl/Cl, 54Mn/Mn, we show how the improved cross-section calculations together with the new propagation code allow us to better constrain the size of the CR halo.
High energy collisions of cosmic ray (CR) nuclei with interstellar gas are believed to be the mechanism producing the majority of CR antiprotons. The distinguishing spectral shape with a maximum at 2 GeV and a sharp decrease towards lower energies makes antiprotons a unique probe of the models of particle propagation in the Galaxy and modulation in the heliosphere. Besides, accurate calculation of the secondary antiproton flux provides a ``background'' for searches for exotic signals from the annihilation of supersymmetric particles and primordial black hole evaporation. Recently new data with large statistics on the antiproton flux have become available which allow for such tests to be performed. We use our 3D Galactic cosmic ray propagation code GALPROP to calculate interstellar propagation in several models. For our best model we make predictions of proton and antiproton fluxes near the Earth for different modulation levels and polarity using a steady-state drift model for heliospheric modulation.
The GALPROP cosmic-ray (CR) propagation model has been extended to three dimensions including the effects of stochastic SNR sources, a comprehensive cross-section database, and nuclear reaction networks. A brief description of the new code is given and some illustrative results for the distribution of CR protons presented. Results for electrons and gamma rays are given in an accompanying paper.
In studies of cosmic-ray (CR) propagation and diffuse continuum gamma-ray emission from the Galaxy it has usually been assumed that the source function can be taken as smooth and time-independent. However, especially for electrons at high energies where energy losses are rapid, the effect of the stochastic nature of the sources becomes apparent and indeed has been invoked to explain the GeV excess in the diffuse emission observed by EGRET. In order to address this problem in detail a model with explicit time-dependence and a stochastic SNR population has been developed, which follows the propagation in three dimensions. The results indicate that although the inhomogeneities are large they are insufficient to easily explain the GeV excess. However the fluctuations should show up in the gamma-ray distribution at high energies and this should be observable with GLAST. Estimates of the TeV continuum emission from the plane are consistent with the Whipple upper limit.
Most cosmic ray antiprotons observed near the Earth are secondaries produced in collisions of energetic cosmic ray (CR) particles with interstellar gas. The spectrum of secondary antiprotons is expected to peak at ~2 GeV and decrease sharply at lower energies. This leaves a low energy window in which to look for signatures of exotic processes such as evaporation of primordial black holes or dark matter annihilation. In the inner heliosphere, however, modulation of CRs by the solar wind makes analysis difficult. Detecting these antiprotons outside the heliosphere on an interstellar probe removes most of the complications of modulation. We present a new calculation of the expected secondary antiproton flux (the background) as well as a preliminary design of a light-weight, low-power instrument for the interstellar probe to make such measurements.
A new numerical model of particle propagation in the Galaxy has been developed, which allows the study of cosmic-ray and gamma-ray production and propagation in 2D or 3D, including a full reaction network. This is a further development of the code which has been used for studies of cosmic ray reacceleration, Galactic halo size, antiprotons and positrons in cosmic rays, the interpretation of diffuse continuum gamma rays, and dark matter. In this paper we illustrate recent results focussing on B/C, sub-Fe/Fe, ACE radioactive isotope data, source abundances and antiprotons. From the radioactive nuclei we derive a range of 3-7 kpc for the height of the cosmic-ray halo.
Gamma rays in the band from 20 MeV to 300 GeV, used in combination with data from radio and X-ray bands, provide a powerful tool for studying the origin of cosmic rays in our sister galaxies Andromeda and the Magellanic Clouds. Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will spatially resolve these galaxies and measure the spectrum and intensity of diffuse gamma radiation from the collisions of cosmic rays with gas and dust in them. Observations of Andromeda will give an external perspective on a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way. Observations of the Magellanic Clouds will permit a study of cosmic rays in dwarf irregular galaxies, where the confinement is certainly different and the massive star formation rate is much greater.
Gamma rays in the band from 30 MeV to 300 GeV, used in combination with direct measurements and with data from radio and X-ray bands, provide a powerful tool for studying the origin of Galactic cosmic rays. Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) with its fine 10-20 arcmin angular resolution will be able to map the sites of acceleration of cosmic rays and their interactions with interstellar matter. It will provide information that is necessary to study the acceleration of energetic particles in supernova shocks, their transport in the interstellar medium and penetration into molecular clouds.
A new study of the diffuse Galactic gamma-ray continuum radiation is presented, using a cosmic-ray propagation model which includes nucleons, antiprotons, electrons, positrons, and synchrotron radiation. Our treatment of the inverse Compton (IC) scattering includes the effect of anisotropic scattering in the Galactic interstellar radiation field (ISRF) and a new evaluation of the ISRF itself. Models based on locally measured electron and nucleon spectra and synchrotron constraints are consistent with gamma-ray measurements in the 30-500 MeV range, but outside this range excesses are apparent. A harder nucleon spectrum is considered but fitting to gamma rays causes it to violate limits from positrons and antiprotons. A harder interstellar electron spectrum allows the gamma-ray spectrum to be fitted above 1 GeV as well, and this can be further improved when combined with a modified nucleon spectrum which still respects the limits imposed by antiprotons and positrons. A large electron/IC halo is proposed which reproduces well the high-latitude variation of gamma-ray emission. The halo contribution of Galactic emission to the high-latitude gamma-ray intensity is large, with implications for the study of the diffuse extragalactic component and signatures of dark matter. The constraints provided by the radio synchrotron spectral index do not allow all of the <30 MeV gamma-ray emission to be explained in terms of a steep electron spectrum unless this takes the form of a sharp upturn below 200 MeV. This leads us to prefer a source population as the origin of the excess low-energy gamma rays.
Models for the diffuse Galactic continuum emission and synchrotron radiation show that it is difficult to reproduce observations of both of these from the same population of cosmic-ray electrons. This indicates that an important contributor to the emission below 10 MeV could be an unresolved point-source population. We suggest that these could be Crab-like sources in the inner Galaxy. Alternatively a sharp upturn in the electron spectrum below 200 MeV is required.
The inverse Compton scattering of interstellar photons off cosmic-ray electrons seems to play a more important role in the generation of diffuse emission from the Galaxy than thought before. The background radiation field of the Galaxy is highly anisotropic since it is dominated by the radiation from the Galactic plane. An observer in the Galactic plane thus sees mostly head-on scatterings even if the distribution of the cosmic-ray electrons is isotropic. This is especially evident when considering inverse Compton scattering by electrons in the halo, i.e. the diffuse emission at high Galactic latitudes. We derive formulas for this process and show that the anisotropy of the interstellar radiation field has a significant effect on the intensity and angular distribution of the Galactic diffuse gamma rays, which can increase the high-latitude Galactic gamma-ray flux up to 40%. This effect should be taken into account when calculating the Galactic emission for extragalactic background estimates.
We have developed a model which aims to reproduce observational data of many kinds related to cosmic-ray (CR) origin and propagation: direct measurements of nuclei, antiprotons, electrons and positrons, gamma-rays, and synchrotron radiation. Our main results include evaluation of diffusion/convection and reacceleration models, estimates of the halo size, calculations of the interstellar positron and antiproton spectra, evaluation of alternative hypotheses of nucleon and electron interstellar spectra, and computation of the Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission. Recently our CR propagation code has been generalized to include fragmentation networks of arbitrary complexity. The code can now provide an alternative to leaky-box calculations for full isotopic abundance calculations and has the advantage of including the spatial dimension which is essential for radioactive nuclei. Preliminary predictions for sub-Fe/Fe, 10Be/9Be and 26Al/27Al are presented in anticipation of new experimental isotopic data. We show that combining information from classical CR studies with gamma-ray and other data leads to tighter constraints on CR origin and propagation.
The cosmic-ray propagation code GALPROP has been generalized to include fragmentation networks of arbitrary complexity. The code can now provide an alternative to leaky-box calculations for full isotopic abundance calculations and has the advantage of including the spatial dimension which is essential for radioactive nuclei. Preliminary predictions for sub-Fe/Fe, 10Be/9Be, 26Al/27Al, 36Cl/Cl, and 54Mn/Mn are presented in anticipation of new experimental isotopic data.
Recent evidence for a large Galactic halo, based on cosmic-ray radioactive nuclei, implies a significant contribution from inverse Compton emission at high Galactic latitudes. We present predictions for the expected intensity distribution, and show that the EGRET gamma-ray latitude distribution is well reproduced from the plane to the poles. We show that the Galactic component at high latitudes may be comparable to the extragalactic emission in some energy ranges.
We have made a calculation of the propagation of positrons from dark-matter particle annihilation in the Galactic halo for different models of the dark matter halo distribution using our 3D code. We show that the Green's functions are not very sensitive to the dark matter distribution for the same local dark matter energy density. We compare our predictions with computed cosmic ray positron spectra ("background") for the "conventional" cosmic-ray nucleon spectrum which matches the local measurements, and a modified spectrum which respects the limits imposed by measurements of diffuse Galactic gamma-rays, antiprotons, and positrons. We conclude that significant detection of a dark matter signal requires favourable conditions and precise measurements unless the dark matter is clumpy which would produce a stronger signal. Although our conclusion qualitatively agrees with that of previous authors, it is based on a more realistic model of particle propagation and thus reduces the scope for future speculations. Reliable background evaluation requires new accurate positron measurements and further developments in modelling production and propagation of cosmic ray species in the Galaxy.
We have made a calculation of the propagation of positrons from dark-matter particle annihilation in the Galactic halo in different models of the dark matter halo distribution using our 3D code, and present fits to our numerical propagation Green's functions. We show that the Green's functions are not very sensitive to the dark matter distribution for the same local dark matter energy density. We compare our predictions with computed cosmic ray positron spectra (``background'') for the ``conventional'' CR nucleon spectrum which matches the local measurements, and a modified spectrum which respects the limits imposed by measurements of diffuse Galactic gamma-rays, antiprotons, and positrons. We conclude that significant detection of a dark matter signal requires favourable conditions and precise measurements unless the dark matter is clumpy which would produce a stronger signal. Although our conclusion qualitatively agrees with that of previous authors, it is based on a more realistic model of particle propagation and thus reduces the scope for future speculations. Reliable background evaluation requires new accurate positron measurements and further developments in modelling production and propagation of cosmic ray species in the Galaxy.