An upper limit on the cosmic-ray luminosity of individual sources from gamma-ray observations
Different types of extragalactic objects are known to produce TeV gamma-rays. Some of these objects are the most probable candidates to accelerate cosmic rays up to 1020 eV. It is very well known that gamma-rays can be produced as a result of the cosmic ray propagation through the intergalactic medi...
| Authors: | , |
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2013 |
| Country: | Argentina |
| Institution: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repository: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/17074 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/17074 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | ultra high energy cosmic rays gamma ray experiments gamma ray theory https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
| Summary: | Different types of extragalactic objects are known to produce TeV gamma-rays. Some of these objects are the most probable candidates to accelerate cosmic rays up to 1020 eV. It is very well known that gamma-rays can be produced as a result of the cosmic ray propagation through the intergalactic medium. These gamma-rays contribute to the total flux observed in the direction of the source. In this paper we propose a new method to derive an upper limit on the cosmic-ray luminosity of an individual source based on the measured upper limit on the integral flux of GeV-TeV gamma-rays. We show how it is possible to calculate an upper limit on the cosmic-ray luminosity of a particular source and we explore the parameter space in which the current GeV-TeV gamma-ray measurements can offer a useful determination. We study in detail two particular sources, Pictor A and NGC 7469, and we calculate the upper limit on the proton luminosity of each source based on the upper limit on the integral gamma-ray flux measured by the H.E.S.S. telescopes. |
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