On the Very-High-Energy Gamma Ray Spectra from Typical Supernovae Remnants

TL;DR

This paper explains the observed VHE gamma ray spectra from supernova remnants using a quantum effect that links particle energy to gravitational potential, challenging previous expectations about spectral cutoffs.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum effect that differentiates trajectory energy from particle state energy, explaining gamma ray spectra features at high energies.

Findings

Successful two-parameter fit to observed spectra

Spectral cutoff explained by quantum effect

Links gamma ray features to gravitational potential

Abstract

Recently measured VHE gamma ray spectra from supernovae remnants (SNRs) are best fit by power laws with an exponential cutoff. But this feature does not occur at the `knee-equivalent' energy at which VHE gamma ray spectra are expected to reflect the `knee' in the otherwise featureless cosmic ray spectrum. In this article, the VHE gamma ray feature is explained as a consequence of a recently deduced quantum effect. The effect distinguishes `trajectory energy' from `particle state energy' and requires that the particle state energy depends strongly on gravitational potential at very high energies. Based on this effect and the observed CR spectrum, a tight two-parameter fit is obtained to the combined VHE gamma ray spectra of SNRs RX J1713.7-3946 and RX J0852.0-4622 and the Galactic Center ridge.