Propagation of Light Elements in the Galaxy

TL;DR

This paper investigates how light element isotopes like H2, He3, Li, Be, and B are produced and propagate in the galaxy, using numerical models and updated cross sections to understand their origins and evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed numerical study of light element isotope propagation in the galaxy with updated production cross sections using the GALPROP code.

Findings

Improved modeling of light isotope propagation in the galaxy.

Refined estimates of spallation rates and propagation parameters.

Enhanced understanding of cosmic ray interactions with interstellar medium.

Abstract

The origin and evolution of isotopes of the lightest elements H2, He3, Li, Be, B in the universe is a key problem in such fields as astrophysics of CR, Galactic evolution, non-thermal nucleosynthesis, and cosmological studies. One of the major sources of these species is spallation by CR nuclei in the interstellar medium. On the other hand, it is the B/C ratio in CR and Be10 abundance which are used to fix the propagation parameters and thus the spallation rate. We study the production and Galactic propagation of isotopes of elements Z<6 using the numerical propagation code GALPROP and updated production cross sections.