Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2203.08751

Diffuse flux of ultra-high energy photons from cosmic-ray interactions in the disk of the Galaxy and implications for the search for decaying super-heavy dark matter

Corinne Bérat·Carla Bleve·Olivier Deligny·François Montanet·Pierpaolo Savina·Zoé Torrès
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

An estimate of the expected photon flux above $10^{17}~$eV from the interactions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays with the matter in the Galactic disk is presented. Uncertainties arising from the distribution of the gas in the disk, the absolute level of the cosmic ray flux, and the composition of the cosmic rays are taken into account. Within these uncertainties, the integrated photon flux above $10^{17}~$eV is, averaged out over Galactic latitude less than $5^\circ$, between $\simeq 3.2{\times}10^{-2}~$km$^{-2}~$yr$^{-1}~$sr$^{-1}$ and $\simeq 8.7{\times}10^{-2}~$km$^{-2}~$yr$^{-1}~$sr$^{-1}$. The all-sky average value amounts to $\simeq 1.1{\times}10^{-2}~$km$^{-2}~$yr$^{-1}~$sr$^{-1}$ above $10^{17}~$eV and decreases roughly as $E^{-2}$, making this diffuse flux the dominant one from cosmic-ray interactions for energy thresholds between $10^{17}~$eV and $10^{18}$~eV. Compared to the current sensitivities of detection techniques, a gain between two and three orders of magnitude in exposure is required for a detection below $\simeq 10^{18}$~eV. The implications for searches for photon fluxes from the Galactic center that would be indicative of the decay of super-heavy dark matter particles are discussed, as the photon flux presented in this study can be considered as a floor below which other signals would be overwhelmed.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph.HE

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Corinne Bérat, Carla Bleve, Olivier Deligny, François Montanet, Pierpaolo Savina, Zoé Torrès. 2022-03-16. Diffuse flux of ultra-high energy photons from cosmic-ray interactions in the disk of the Galaxy and implications for the search for decaying super-heavy dark matter. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357%2Fac5cbe

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Identifying Kilonovae in the Presence of Optical Afterglow for the Wide Field Survey Telescope

Identifying kilonovae associated with binary neutron star mergers is often complicated by the presence of a dominant synchrotron afterglow. In this work, we evaluate the performance of the Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST) in identifying kilonova signals in composite afterglow-kilonova transients. Using a numerical framework based on the Fisher information matrix, we simulate $10,000$ realizations for each of two scenarios: an AT2017gfo-based template model and a physically sampled population that accounts for kilonova diversity. Our results indicate that kilonova identification is primarily limited by source distance. In both scenarios, the identification efficiency is largely insensitive to variations in afterglow microphysical parameters and exceeds $80\%$ at distances within approximately $600~\rm Mpc$ for AT2017gfo-like events. Under our adopted assumptions and a short gamma-ray burst (sGRB)-triggered target-of-opportunity (ToO) observational strategy, we estimate that the WFST could identify $0.1-1.2$ kilonovae per year in the optimistic scenario. Furthermore, we find that the discriminating power of color-based filters rapidly saturates, reaching a stable plateau by the second night after the merger. We therefore propose a staged observing strategy that prioritizes high-cadence $g$ and $r$-band monitoring during the first night and incorporates the $z$ band from the second night onward. This strategy improves the identification precision by exploiting the increasingly prominent red excess produced by the kilonova. Our results provide a physical basis for optimizing WFST observing resources to efficiently detect and characterize kilonovae in the multimessenger era.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2026

CRAFT HTR2: Polarimetry of 64 non-repeating fast radio bursts from the updated CRAFT catalogue

We present high-time resolution spectro-polarimetric data for 34 new fast radio bursts (FRBs) discovered by the Commensal Real-time Fast Transients (CRAFT) survey on the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) during the period May 2024 to June 2026. Most of these were detected by the higher-sensitivity CRAFT COherent (CRACO) detection system that was commissioned on the telescope during this period. This new sample doubles the size of the CRAFT HTR catalogue and probes a fainter population of FRBs thanks to the improved sensitivity of CRACO. We compare the distribution of extragalactic rotation measure (RM) and polarisation fraction to the CHIME and DSA catalogues. While no significant differences were seen between CRAFT and DSA, the extragalactic RM distribution seen in CHIME FRBs (which are detected at lower frequency) was substantially lower. Surprisingly, we find no significant differences in the linear polarisation fraction distribution between the three FRB catalogues, suggesting an indifference to the different telescope observing frequencies. We show tentative evidence for wider and fainter bursts possessing lower polarisation fractions; this is predominantly driven by the growing sample of unpolarised bursts that are, in almost all cases, wider ($\gg$10 ms) and fainter ($\ll$10$^{34}$ ergs s$^{-1}$ Hz$^{-1}$) than the median ASKAP detection.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2026

Why most neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries accrete transiently: an evolutionary study of transient and persistent phases

A neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB), in which an NS accretes matter from a low-mass donor star, is an ideal source for probing some fundamental aspects of physics and astronomy, such as strong gravity, superdense matter, and the accretion-ejection processes. However, to reliably achieve these goals, one must adequately understand NS LMXBs, including why some accrete persistently and others transiently. Focused models, such as those based on a thermal-viscous instability in the accretion disk, are considered to explain transient accretion. However, broader perspectives, including which LMXB parameter values and phases cause transients and why there are more transients than persistents, remain poorly understood. Here, our computation of the long-term evolution of NS LMXBs addresses these questions, providing insight into LMXB parameters and phases, naturally producing more transients than persistents, and being partially consistent with the known properties of observed sources. For example, we typically find a greater fraction of persistent phase at lower orbital periods from the LMXB evolution computation, which is somewhat consistent with observations. However, a lack of full consistency calls for improving the aforementioned focused models, and our computations provide a new way to discriminate among these models.

astro-ph.HE↗