Detection of the Characteristic Pion-Decay Signature in Supernova Remnants
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY · University of California, Berkeley · +76 more institutions
Abstract
Cosmic rays are particles (mostly protons) accelerated to relativistic speeds. Despite wide agreement that supernova remnants (SNRs) are the sources of galactic cosmic rays, unequivocal evidence for the acceleration of protons in these objects is still lacking. When accelerated protons encounter interstellar material, they produce neutral pions, which in turn decay into gamma rays. This offers a compelling way to detect the acceleration sites of protons. The identification of pion-decay gamma rays has been difficult because high-energy electrons also produce gamma rays via bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering. We detected the characteristic pion-decay feature in the gamma-ray spectra of two SNRs, IC…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 123.17
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 45
Authors
169- MAM. Ackermann
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
- MAM. Ajello
University of California, Berkeley
- AAA. Allafort
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University
- LBL. Baldini
University of Pisa, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
- JBJ. Ballet
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris Cité, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation, CEA Paris-Saclay, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers
Topics & keywords
- Physics
- Cosmic ray
- Pion
- Supernova
- Bremsstrahlung
- Gamma ray
- Astrophysics
- Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope