Hadronic gamma-rays from RX J1713.7-3946?

TL;DR

This paper investigates the origin of gamma-ray emission from RX J1713.7-3946, proposing that hadronic interactions, especially with gas clumps, can explain observations traditionally attributed to leptonic processes.

Contribution

It demonstrates that hadronic interactions can account for the gamma-ray spectrum of RX J1713.7-3946 when gas clumps are considered, challenging the leptonic interpretation.

Findings

Hadronic interactions can explain the gamma-ray spectrum with gas clumps.

Absence of thermal X-rays supports the hadronic scenario.

Gas clumps are key to reconciling observations with hadronic models.

Abstract

RXJ1713.7-3946 is a key object to check the supernova remnant paradigm of the origin of Galactic cosmic rays. While the origin of its gamma-ray emission (hadronic versus leptonic) is still debated, the hard spectrum at GeV energies reported by the Fermi collaboration is generally interpreted as a strong argument in favor of a leptonic scenario. On the contrary, we show that hadronic interactions can naturally explain the gamma-ray spectrum if gas clumps are present in the supernova remnant shell. The absence of thermal X-rays from the remnant fits well within this scenario.