Impact of the spectral hardening of TeV cosmic rays on the prediction of the secondary positron flux

Abstract

The rise in the cosmic-ray positron fraction measured by the PAMELA satellite is likely due to the presence of astrophysical sources of positrons, e.g. pulsars, on the kpc scale around the Earth. Nevertheless, assessing the properties of these sources from the positron data requires a good knowledge of the secondary positron component generated by the interaction of cosmic rays with the interstellar gas. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the spectral hardening in the cosmic-ray proton and helium fluxes recently reported by the ATIC2 and CREAM balloon experiments, on the predictions of the secondary positron flux. We show that the effect is not negligible, leading to an increase of the secondary positron flux by up to $\sim$60% above $\sim$100 GeV. We provide fitting formulae that allow a straightforward utilization of our results, which can help in deriving constraints on one's favorite primary positron source, e.g. pulsars or dark matter.

arXiv comment8 pages, 4 figures (accepted in MNRAS 04-01-2011)

References in corpus (31)

• Observation of an anomalous positron abundance in the cosmic radiation
• The Interstellar Environment of our Galaxy
• Measurement of the Cosmic Ray e+ plus e- spectrum from 20 GeV to 1 TeV with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• Production and propagation of cosmic-ray positrons and electrons
• Measurements of the Cosmic-Ray Positron Fraction From 1 to 50 GeV
• Antiprotons in cosmic rays from neutralino annihilation
• Positron Propagation and Fluxes from Neutralino Annihilation in the Halo
• Cosmic Rays below Z=30 in a diffusion model: new constraints on propagation parameters
• Discrepant hardening observed in cosmic-ray elemental spectra
• Parameterization of Gamma, e^+/- and Neutrino Spectra Produced by p-p Interaction in Astronomical Environment
• Fermi LAT observations of cosmic-ray electrons from 7 GeV to 1 TeV
• Energy Spectra of Abundant Nuclei of Primary Cosmic Rays from the Data of ATIC-2 Experiment: Final Results
• TeV Gamma Rays from Geminga and the Origin of the GeV Positron Excess
• Cosmic-ray positron fraction measurement from 1 to 30 GeV with AMS-01
• Precise Measurement of Cosmic-Ray Proton and Helium Spectra with the BESS Spectrometer
• The origin of the positron excess in cosmic rays
• Measurements of Primary and Atmospheric Cosmic-Ray Spectra with the BESS-TeV Spectrometer
• New Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Positron Fraction from 5 to 15 GeV
• Measurements of 0.2 to 20 GeV/n cosmic-ray proton and helium spectra from 1997 through 2002 with the BESS spectrometer
• Galactic secondary positron flux at the Earth
• Pulsars versus Dark Matter Interpretation of ATIC/PAMELA
• A statistical procedure for the identification of positrons in the PAMELA experiment
• Galactic electrons and positrons at the Earth:new estimate of the primary and secondary fluxes
• A Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique to sample transport and source parameters of Galactic cosmic rays: II. Results for the diffusion model combining B/C and radioactive nuclei
• The Cosmic-Ray Proton and Helium Spectra measured with the CAPRICE98 balloon experiment
• Inhomogeneity in the Supernova Remnant Distribution as the Origin of the PAMELA Anomaly
• Constraints on the Cosmic-Ray Density Gradient beyond the Solar Circle from Fermi gamma-ray Observations of the Third Galactic Quadrant
• Cosmic ray production in supernova remnants including reacceleration: the secondary to primary ratio
• Spatial Origin of Galactic Cosmic Rays in Diffusion Models: I- Standard sources in the Galactic disk
• 10 GeV dark matter candidates and cosmic-ray antiprotons
• Parameterized total cross sections for pion production in nuclear collisions

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Astrophysical models for the origin of the positron "excess"
• Spectra of Cosmic Ray Protons and Helium Produced in Supernova Remnants
• Updated cosmic-ray and radio constraints on light dark matter: Implications for the GeV gamma-ray excess at the Galactic center
• AMS02 results support the secondary origin of cosmic ray positrons
• Cosmic ray spectral hardening due to dispersion in the source injection spectra
• Dark Matter Indirect Signatures
• Direct constraints on diffusion models from cosmic-ray positron data: Excluding the Minimal model for dark matter searches
• Robust cosmic-ray constraints on $p$-wave annihilating MeV dark matter
• Indirect dark matter searches as a probe of degenerate particle spectra
• Cosmic-ray antiproton constraints on light singlino-like dark matter candidates
• Diffuse gamma-ray constraints on dark matter revisited. I: the impact of subhalos
• The 130 GeV gamma-ray line and generic dark matter model building constraints from continuum gamma rays, radio and antiproton data
• Dipole-interacting Fermionic Dark Matter in positron, antiproton, and gamma-ray channels
• Systematic study of the uncertainties in fitting the cosmic positron data by AMS-02
• Gamma Ray Constraints on Flavor Violating Asymmetric Dark Matter
• Hints of a Charge Asymmetry in the Electron and Positron Cosmic-Ray Excesses
• Extracting the size of the cosmic electron-positron anomaly
• Cosmic-ray antiproton constraints on light dark matter candidates