On the contribution of nearby sources to the observed cosmic-ray nuclei

TL;DR

This study investigates how nearby cosmic-ray sources, especially supernova remnants, influence observed cosmic-ray spectra and ratios, finding significant effects above 100 GeV/n but negligible impact for typical particle release times.

Contribution

It introduces a discrete space-time model for nearby sources and analyzes their effects on cosmic-ray spectra, highlighting the importance of source proximity and release timing.

Findings

Nearby SNRs cause ~45% variation in primary fluxes at high energies.

Secondary cosmic-ray fluxes are minimally affected by nearby sources.

Particle release time of ~10^5 yr results in negligible effects on observed CRs.

Abstract

The presence of nearby discrete cosmic-ray (CR) sources can lead to many interesting effects on the observed properties of CRs. In this paper, we study about the possible effects on the CR primary and secondary spectra and also the subsequent effects on the CR secondary-to-primary ratios. For the study, we assume that CRs undergo diffusive propagation in the Galaxy and we neglect the effect of convection, energy losses and reacceleration. In our model, we assume that there exists a uniform and continuous distribution of CR sources in the Galaxy generating a stationary CR background at the Earth. In addition, we also consider the existence of some nearby sources which inject CRs in a discrete space-time model. Assuming a constant CR source power throughout the Galaxy, our study has found that the presence of nearby supernova remnants (SNRs) produces noticeable variations in the primary fluxes mainly above ~ 100 GeV/n, if CRs are assumed to be released instantaneously after the supernova explosion. The variation reaches a value of ~ 45% at around 10^5 GeV/n. Respect to earlier studies, the variation in the case of the secondaries is found to be almost negligible. We also discuss about the possible effects of the different particle release times from the SNRs. For the particle release time of ~ 10^5 yr, predicted by the diffusive shock acceleration theories in SNRs, we have found that the presence of the nearby SNRs hardly produces any significant effects on the CRs at the Earth.