A Photo-Hadronic Model of the Large Scale Jet of PKS 0637-752

TL;DR

This paper proposes a photo-hadronic model where high-energy protons produce secondary electrons/positrons via Bethe-Heitler and photo-pion processes, explaining the X-ray emission from PKS 0637-752 without conflicting with Fermi LAT limits.

Contribution

It introduces a novel photo-hadronic mechanism for jet X-ray emission, emphasizing secondary leptons from proton interactions as the primary source.

Findings

Reproduces PKS 0637-752's X-ray spectrum with proton power >10^{49} erg/s

Secondary leptons from Bethe-Heitler process dominate X-ray emission

Optical flux is explained by secondary leptons or jet beaming

Abstract

Strong X-ray emission from large scale jets of radio loud quasars still remains an open problem. Models based on inverse Compton scattering off CMB photons by relativistically beamed jets have recently been ruled out, since Fermi LAT observations for 3C 273 and PKS 0637-752 give the upper limit far below the model prediction. Synchrotron emission from a separate electron population with multi-hundred TeV energies remains a possibility although its origin is not well known. We examine a photo-hadronic origin of such high energy electrons/positrons, assuming that protons are accelerated up to $10^{19}$ eV and produce electrons/positrons through Bethe-Heitler process and photo-pion production. These secondary electrons/positrons are injected at sufficiently high energies and produce X-rays and $\gamma$-rays by synchrotron radiation without conflicting with the Fermi LAT upper limits. We find that the resultant spectrum well reproduces the X-ray observations from PKS 0637-752, if the proton power is at least $10^{49} \text{erg} \, \text{s}^{-1}$, which is highly super-Eddington. It is noted that the X-ray emission originates primarily from leptons through Bethe-Heitler process, while leptons from photo-pion origin lose energy directly through synchrotron emission of multi-TeV photons rather than cascading. To avoid the overproduction of the optical flux, optical emission is primarily due to synchrotron emission of secondary leptons rather than primary electrons, or a mild degree of beaming of the jet is needed, if it is owing to the primary electrons. Proton synchrotron luminosity is a few orders of magnitude smaller.