Probing Cosmic Rays with Fe K$\alpha$ Line Structures Generated by Multiple Ionization Process

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to analyze Fe Kα line structures caused by multiple ionization processes, aiming to identify heavy ions in cosmic rays accelerated by supernova remnants.

Contribution

It proposes a novel approach to constrain the composition of particles in SNRs by examining spectral structures in Fe Kα lines caused by multiple ionization.

Findings

Model for Fe Kα line structures developed using atomic-collision data.

Detection of spectral structures supports heavy ion presence in cosmic rays.

Method offers a new way to study particle composition in SNRs.

Abstract

Supernova remnants (SNRs) have been regarded as major acceleration sites of Galactic cosmic rays. Recent X-ray studies revealed neutral Fe K$\alpha$ line emission from dense gas in the vicinity of some SNRs, which can be best interpreted as K-shell ionization of Fe atoms in the gas by sub-relativistic particles accelerated in the SNRs. In this Letter, we propose a novel method of constraining the composition of particles accelerated in SNRs, which is currently unknown. When energetic heavy ions collide with target atoms, their strong Coulomb field can easily cause simultaneous ejection of multiple inner-shell electrons of the target. This results in shifts in characteristic X-ray line energies, forming distinctive spectral structures. Detection of such structures in the neutral Fe K$\alpha$ line strongly supports the particle ionization scenario, and furthermore provides direct evidence of heavy ions in the accelerated particles. We construct a model for the Fe K$\alpha$ line structures by various projectile ions utilizing atomic-collision data.