Extinction of the TeV Gamma-Ray Background by Sunlight

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that sunlight causes significant anisotropy in the TeV gamma-ray background through pair production, surpassing the anisotropy caused by the Sun's motion relative to the cosmic rest frame.

Contribution

It reveals a new source of anisotropy in the TeV gamma-ray background caused by pair production on sunlight, which was not previously recognized.

Findings

Sunlight induces a sizable anisotropy in the TeV gamma-ray background.

The anisotropy amplitude exceeds the cosmic dipole anisotropy from solar motion.

Pair production on sunlight significantly affects gamma-ray background observations.

Abstract

I show that pair production on sunlight introduces a sizable anisotropy in the cosmic background of TeV gamma-rays. The anisotropy amplitude in the direction of the Sun exceeds the cosmic dipole anisotropy from the motion of the Sun relative to the cosmic rest-frame.