Nonthermal X-Rays from the Galactic Ridge: a Tracer of Low Energy Cosmic Rays ?

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dc.creatorTatischeff, V.
dc.creatorRamaty, R.
dc.creatorValinia, A.
dc.date1999-03-22
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T02:30:56Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T02:30:56Z
dc.descriptionA distinct low energy cosmic-ray component has been proposed to explain the essentially constant Be/Fe ratio at low metallicities. Atomic collisions of such low energy ions produce characteristic nonthermal X-ray emission. In this paper, we study the possible contribution of such X-rays to the Galactic ridge emission. We show that they would account for < 10% of the 10-60 keV luminosity of the thin Galactic disk component detected with RXTE. They could make a more significant contribution in the 0.5-10 keV energy range, provided that the nonthermal ion population extends down to about 1 MeV/nucleon and delivers about 10$^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$ to the interstellar medium, comparable to the total power suplied by the Galactic supernovae. But since the nonthermal X-rays in this energy range are essentially produced below the thresholds of the Be-producing cross sections, their detection does not necessarily imply a low energy cosmic-ray origin for the spallogenic light elements. A significant contribution of nonthermal X-rays could alleviate the problem of the origin of the hard component observed with ASCA in the Scutum arm region.
dc.descriptionlatex 9 pages, uses paspconf.sty, 4 figures. To appear in "LiBeB, Cosmic Rays and Gamma-Ray Line Astronomy", ASP Conference Series, eds. R. Ramaty, E. Vangioni-Flam, M. Casse and K. Olive
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9903326
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9903326
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/13990
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleNonthermal X-Rays from the Galactic Ridge: a Tracer of Low Energy Cosmic Rays ?
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