The properties of gamma-ray images of supernova remnants due to proton-proton interactions

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to synthesize gamma-ray images of supernova remnants caused by proton interactions, incorporating proton energy losses, and highlights the significance of these losses in dense environments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel modeling approach for hadronic gamma-ray emission in SNRs, including proton energy losses due to pp interactions, based on classic shock acceleration and hydrodynamics.

Findings

Proton energy losses are significant in high-density environments.

The model can generate radial profiles of hadronic gamma-ray emission.

Proton interactions with molecular clouds affect gamma-ray image morphology.

Abstract

MAGIC and H.E.S.S experiments are the first to produce images of supernova remnats (SNRs) in TeV gamma-rays. The gamma-radiation are produced either by electrons (due to inverse-Compton scatterings) or protons (due to pion decays). We present a method to synthesize gamma-ray images of Sedov SNRs due to hadronic emission. The model is developed in the frame of a classic approach to proton acceleration and hydrodynamics of the shocks in a uniform interstellar medium; it includes energy losses of relativistic protons due to pp interactions. Our calculations show that these losses are important only for large densities of protons as it could be in case of interactions of the supernova shock with molecular cloud. Numerical simulations are used to synthesize radial profiles of hadronic TeV gamma-rays.