Sagittarius A* as an Origin of the Galactic PeV Cosmic Rays?

TL;DR

This paper explores Sagittarius A* as a potential source of Galactic PeV cosmic rays, modeling their diffusion and comparing predictions with observed cosmic ray spectra and anisotropy.

Contribution

It introduces a diffusion-halo model for CRs from Sgr A*'s past activity, providing new insights into their propagation and observable signatures.

Findings

CRs from Sgr A* can explain the observed cosmic ray spectrum.

The model predicts an energy-independent boron-to-carbon ratio around the knee.

Small anisotropy may result from differing diffusion coefficients in disk and halo.

Abstract

Supernova remnants (SNRs) have commonly been considered as a source of the observed PeV cosmic rays (CRs) or a Galactic PeV particle accelerator ("Pevatron"). In this work, we study Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), which is the low-luminosity active galactic nucleus of the Milky Way Galaxy, as another possible canditate of the Pevatron, because it sometimes became very active in the past. We assume that a large number of PeV CRs were injected by Sgr A* at the outburst about 10^7 yr ago when the Fermi bubbles were created. We constrain the diffusion coefficient for the CRs in the Galactic halo on the condition that the CRs have arrived on the Earth by now, while a fairly large fraction of them have escaped from the halo. Based on a diffusion-halo model, we solve a diffusion equation for the CRs and compare the results with the CR spectrum on the Earth. The observed small anisotropy of the arrival directions of CRs may be explained if the diffusion coefficient in the Galactic disk is smaller than that in the halo. Our model predicts that a boron-to-carbon ratio should be energy-independent around the knee, where the CRs from Sgr A* become dominant. It is unlikely that the spectrum of the CRs accelerated at the outburst is represented by a power-law similar to the one for those responsible for the gamma-ray emission from the central molecular zone (CMZ) around the Galactic center.