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Cosmic Ray Sampling of a Clumpy Interstellar Medium

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 Added by Erin Boettcher
 Publication date 2013
  fields Physics
and research's language is English




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How cosmic rays sample the multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM) in starburst galaxies has important implications for many science goals, including evaluating the cosmic ray calorimeter model for these systems, predicting their neutrino fluxes, and modeling their winds. Here, we use Monte Carlo simulations to study cosmic ray sampling of a simple, two-phase ISM under conditions similar to those of the prototypical starburst galaxy M82. The assumption that cosmic rays sample the mean density of the ISM in the starburst region is assessed over a multi-dimensional parameter space where we vary the number of molecular clouds, the galactic wind speed, the extent to which the magnetic field is tangled, and the cosmic ray injection mechanism. We evaluate the ratio of the emissivity from pion production in molecular clouds to the emissivity that would be observed if the cosmic rays sampled the mean density, and seek areas of parameter space where this ratio differs significantly from unity. The assumption that cosmic rays sample the mean density holds over much of parameter space; however, this assumption begins to break down for high cloud density, injection close to the clouds, and a very tangled magnetic field. We conclude by evaluating the extent to which our simulated starburst region behaves as a proton calorimeter and constructing the time-dependent spectrum of a burst of cosmic rays.



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We present an X-ray absorption model for the interstellar medium, to be referred to as ISMabs, that takes into account both neutral and ionized species of cosmically abundant elements, and includes the most accurate atomic data available. Using high-resolution spectra from eight X-ray binaries obtained with the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer, we proceed to benchmark the atomic data in the model particularly in the neon K-edge region. Compared with previous photoabsorption models, which solely rely on neutral species, the inclusion of ions leads to improved spectral fits. Fit parameters comprise the column densities of abundant contributors that allow direct estimates of the ionization states. ISMabs is provided in the appropriate format to be implemented in widely used X-ray spectral fitting packages such as XSPEC, ISIS and SHERPA.
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An accurate estimate of the interstellar gas density distribution is crucial to understanding the interstellar medium (ISM) and Galactic cosmic rays (CRs). To comprehend the ISM and CRs in a local environment, a study of the diffuse $gamma$-ray emission in a mid-latitude region of the third quadrant was performed. The $gamma$-ray data in the 0.1--25.6~GeV energy range of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and other interstellar gas tracers such as the HI4PI survey data and the Planck dust thermal emission model were used, and the northern and southern regions were analyzed separately. The variation of the dust emission Dem with the total neutral gas column density NH was studied in high dust-temperature areas, and the NH/Dem ratio was calibrated using $gamma$-ray data under the assumption of a uniform CR intensity in the studied regions. The measured integrated $gamma$-ray emissivities above 100~MeV are $(1.58pm0.04)times10^{-26}~mathrm{photons~s^{-1}~sr^{-1}~Hmbox{-}atom^{-1}}$ and $(1.59pm0.02)times10^{-26}~mathrm{photons~s^{-1}~sr^{-1}~Hmbox{-}atom^{-1}}$ in the northern and southern regions, respectively, supporting the existence of a uniform CR intensity in the vicinity of the solar system. While most of the gas can be interpreted to be HI with a spin temperature of $T_mathrm{S} = 125~mathrm{K}$ or higher, an area dominated by optically thick HI with $T_mathrm{S} sim 40~mathrm{K}$ was identified.
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