Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1998-09-04
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
4 pages, accepted for publication in A&A
Scientific paper
RXTE, GINGA, and OSSE observations have revealed an intense low-energy gamma-ray continuum emission from the Galactic plane, which is commonly interpreted as evidence for the possible existence of a strong flux of low-energy cosmic ray electrons. In this paper I discuss the scenario of a hadronic origin of the soft Galactic gamma-ray continuum through inverse bremsstrahlung. A flux of low-energy cosmic rays strong enough to produce the observed spectrum of gamma-rays implies substantial gamma-ray emission at a few MeV through nuclear de-excitation. It is shown that the existing limits on excess 3-7 MeV emission from the Galactic plane, in concert with the constraints from pion-decay gamma-ray emission at higher energies, are in serious conflict with an inverse bremsstrahlung origin of the Galactic soft gamma-ray emission for any physically plausible low-energy cosmic ray spectrum. While in case of energetic heavy nuclei the limits are violated by about an order of magnitude, for a large population of low-energy protons the implied gamma-ray line flux and pion-decay continuum intensity are larger than the existing limits by at least a factor of 2.
No associations
LandOfFree
Limits for an inverse bremsstrahlung origin of the diffuse Galactic soft gamma-ray emission does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Limits for an inverse bremsstrahlung origin of the diffuse Galactic soft gamma-ray emission, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Limits for an inverse bremsstrahlung origin of the diffuse Galactic soft gamma-ray emission will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-571226