AMS02 results support the secondary origin of cosmic ray positrons

Abstract

We show that the recent AMS02 positron fraction measurement is consistent with a secondary origin for positrons, and does not require additional primary sources such as pulsars or dark matter. The measured positron fraction at high energy saturates the previously predicted upper bound for secondary production (Katz et al 2009), obtained by neglecting radiative losses. This coincidence, which will be further tested by upcoming AMS02 data at higher energy, is a compelling indication for a secondary source. Within the secondary model the AMS02 data imply a cosmic ray propagation time in the Galaxy of < Myr and an average traversed interstellar matter density of order 1/cc, comparable to the density of the Milky Way gaseous disk, at a rigidity of 300 GV.

6 pages, 7 figures. v2: include updated results from AMS02 (B/C, e+ flux), match journal version

References in corpus (5)

• Observation of an anomalous positron abundance in the cosmic radiation
• Discrepant hardening observed in cosmic-ray elemental spectra
• Measurements of cosmic-ray secondary nuclei at high energies with the first flight of the CREAM balloon-borne experiment
• Galactic electrons and positrons at the Earth:new estimate of the primary and secondary fluxes
• Impact of the spectral hardening of TeV cosmic rays on the prediction of the secondary positron flux

Cited by in corpus (56)

• Dark matter direct-detection experiments
• The origin of Galactic cosmic rays: challenges to the standard paradigm
• GeV-Scale Thermal WIMPs: Not Even Slightly Dead
• Cosmic Ray Transport in the Galaxy: a Review
• A Precision Search for WIMPs with Charged Cosmic Rays
• AMS-02 beryllium data and its implication for cosmic ray transport
• Cosmic-ray protons, nuclei, electrons, and antiparticles under a two-halo scenario of diffusive propagation
• Cosmic rays, anti-helium, and an old navy spotlight
• AMS-100: The Next Generation Magnetic Spectrometer in Space -- An International Science Platform for Physics and Astrophysics at Lagrange Point 2
• Energetics of High-Energy Cosmic Radiations
• Galactic factories of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons
• Numerical modeling of galactic cosmic ray proton and helium observed by AMS-02 during the solar maximum of Solar Cycle 24
• Can we explain AMS-02 antiproton and positron excesses simultaneously by nearby supernovae without pulsars nor dark matter?
• Neutrino Mass and Dark Matter in light of recent AMS-02 results
• Escape model for Galactic cosmic rays and an early extragalactic transition
• Interpretation of the cosmic ray positron and antiproton fluxes
• Cosmic ray signatures of a 2-3 Myr old local supernova
• On the Spectrum of Electrons Accelerated in Supernova Remnants
• Les Houches Lectures on Indirect Detection of Dark Matter
• Positrons from Primordial Black Hole Microquasars and Gamma-ray Bursts
• On particle acceleration and transport in plasmas in the Galaxy: theory and observations
• Indirect and direct signatures of Higgs portal decaying vector dark matter for positron excess in cosmic rays
• Cosmic-Ray Positrons Strongly Constrain Leptophilic Dark Matter
• Searching for Vector Dark Matter by Higgs Portal at the LHC
• Where are Milky Way's Hadronic PeVatrons?
• Effects of reacceleration and source grammage on secondary cosmic rays spectra
• Revisiting Multi-Component Dark Matter with New AMS-02 Data
• Super-Knee Cosmic Rays from Galactic Neutron Star Merger Remnants
• Plus Charge Prevalence in Cosmic Rays: Room for Dark Matter in the Positron Spectrum
• Pulsar interpretation of the lepton spectra measured by AMS-02
• Theoretical interpretation of Pass 8 Fermi-LAT $e^{+}+e^{-}$ data
• Gamma-ray halos around pulsars: impact on pulsar wind physics and galactic cosmic ray transport
• What could we learn from a sharply falling positron fraction?
• AMS02 positron excess from decaying fermion DM with local dark gauge symmetry
• Selected Topics in Cosmic Ray Physics
• $e^{+}$ and $\bar{p}$ production in $pp$ collisions and the cosmic-ray $e^{+}/\bar{p}$ flux ratio
• Interpretation of the cosmic ray positron and electron excesses with an annihilating-decaying dark matter scenario
• Cosmic rays escaping from Galactic starburst-driven superbubbles
• Secondary Production as the Origin for the Cosmic Ray Positron Excess
• The Contribution of Millisecond Pulsars to the Galactic Cosmic-Ray Lepton Spectrum
• Cosmic Rays in the Milky Way and Beyond
• Newly-Discovered Anomalies in Galactic Cosmic Rays: Time for Exotic Scenarios?
• Examining the secondary product origin of cosmic ray positrons with the latest AMS-02 data
• Cosmic-Ray Signatures of Dark Matter from a Flavor Dependent Gauge Symmetry Model with Neutrino Mass Mechanism
• Origin Of The Cosmic Ray Positrons Observed Near Earth- Meson Decay Or Dark Matter Decay?
• Probing the astrophysical origin of high-energy cosmic-ray electrons with Monte Carlo simulation
• Supernova Remnant-Cosmic Ray connection: a modern view
• Searches for Light Scalars, Pseudoscalars, and Gauge Bosons
• Proposition of FSR Photon Suppression Employing a Two-Positron Decay Dark Matter Model to Explain Positron Anomaly in Cosmic Rays
• The Price of a Dark Matter Annihilation Interpretation of AMS-02 Data
• Multicomponent Dark Matter in the Light of CALET and DAMPE
• Shocking Signals of Dark Matter Annihilation
• What can we learn from a sharply falling positron fraction?
• Pulsar Wind Nebulae as a source of the observed electron and positron excess at high energy: the case of Vela-X
• Deciphering the Electron Spectral Hardening in AMS-02
• AMS-02, Strongly Self-Interacting Dark Matter, and QUD