Search for Galactic Cosmic Ray Sources with H.E.S.S

TL;DR

This paper discusses H.E.S.S. observations of supernova remnants to identify their role as sources of Galactic Cosmic Rays, analyzing gamma-ray emissions to distinguish between leptonic and hadronic interaction scenarios.

Contribution

It presents recent H.E.S.S. observational results of SNRs and molecular cloud interactions, supporting the hypothesis that SNRs are the primary sources of Galactic Cosmic Rays.

Findings

Detection of gamma-ray emissions from several SNRs

Evidence supporting hadronic interactions in SNRs

Likely confirmation of SNRs as Cosmic Ray sources

Abstract

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are the prime candidates for the acceleration of the Galactic Cosmic Rays. Tracers for interactions of Cosmic Rays with ambient material are gamma rays at TeV energies, which can be observed with ground based Cherenkov telescopes like H.E.S.S. In the recent years H.E.S.S. has detected several SNRs and interactions of SNRs with molecular clouds. Here the current results of these observations are presented and possible leptonic and hadronic scenarios are discussed. It is shown that it is likely that SNRs are the sources of Galactic Cosmic Rays.