The Misleading Nature of the Leaky Box Models in Cosmic Ray Physics

TL;DR

Leaky box models in cosmic ray physics oversimplify the complex galactic environment, leading to misleading conclusions, especially at high energies, due to their neglect of key galactic features and recent observational data.

Contribution

This paper critically analyzes and demonstrates the inadequacies of leaky box models, emphasizing their unphysical assumptions and highlighting the need for more realistic cosmic ray propagation models.

Findings

Leaky box models ignore galactic magnetic fields and spatial distributions.

Recent measurements invalidate key assumptions of leaky box models.

Leaky box models produce misleading estimates of cosmic ray residence times.

Abstract

Many experimental results around and above the energies where the solar modulation affects cosmic ion fluxes were quantified, conceptualized and debated using leaky box models. These models exploit the notion of equilibrium between creation and destruction processes of cosmic ions in an undifferentiated arbitrary volume representing the Galaxy, ignoring the galactic magnetic field, the size of the Galaxy, the position of the solar cavity, the spatial distribution of the sources, the space variation of the interstellar matter and other pertinent observations. Progress in the measurements of the quoted observational parameters rendes obsolete the use of the leaky box models. Specific examples substantiating the inadequacy of the leaky box models are analyzed such as the conversion of the boron-to-carbon flux ratio into grammage and the residence times of cosmic ions in the Galaxy. The unphysical and misleading nature of the leaky box models is ascertained and illustrated at very high energy.