The Galactic Positron Annihilation Radiation & The Propagation of Positrons in the Interstellar Medium

Abstract

We consider positron propagation in the interstellar medium and show that the positrons from the beta-plus decay chains of the radioactive nuclei Ni-56, Ti-44, and Al-26, produced in Galactic supernovae, can fully account for all the features of the diffuse Galactic 511 keV annihilation radiation observed by INTEGRAL/SPI. We also predict additional measurable features that can further test the origin of positrons and provide new information on the nature of the interstellar medium.

40 pages, 4 postscript figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, volume 698, June 2009

References in corpus (2)

• Spatial distribution of interstellar gas in the innermost 3 kpc of our Galaxy
• Energy spectra stemming from interactions of Alfven waves and turbulent eddies

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Nonabelian dark matter: models and constraints
• Is There a Dark Matter Signal in the Galactic Positron Annihilation Radiation?