Study of cosmic ray sources using data on extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray emission

TL;DR

This paper investigates the contribution of minor extragalactic sources, specifically certain active galactic nuclei, to ultra-high energy cosmic rays and gamma-ray emissions, finding they significantly impact gamma-ray backgrounds but minimally affect cosmic ray flux at Earth.

Contribution

It introduces a model of specific AGNs with strong magnetic fields as minor sources of UHECRs and analyzes their impact on gamma-ray emission, a novel approach in cosmic ray source studies.

Findings

Minor AGNs contribute negligibly to UHECR flux at Earth.

CRs from these AGNs produce gamma-ray flux comparable to observed diffuse emission.

UHECRs from minor sources can significantly influence extragalactic gamma-ray background.

Abstract

We discuss ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic rays (CR) from minor sources and their possible contribution to the extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray emission. As an illustration of minor sources we consider possible specific type of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in which supermassive black hole is surrounded by a super strong magnetic field of 10^(10)-10^(11) Gs. In this model we have calculated CR energy spectra at the Earth and intensity of cascade quanta produced by CRs in extragalactic space. Proceeding from numerical results and the data by Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array it is shown that these AGNs make a negligible contribution to the UHECR flux at the Earth. However CRs from the AGNs produce significant gamma-ray flux as compared to extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray emission measured by Fermi LAT. We conclude that UHECRs from minor sources can contribute noticeably to extragalactic gamma-ray emission.