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Gamma rays and the origin of cosmic rays

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Summary and conclusions

It has been pointed out that cosmic γ-rays have something to say about the origin of cosmic-ray particles. Although the statistical precision of the data and the directional accuracy of the satellite-borne detectors operated so far have been poor, useful results have been achieved already.

It is the reviewers' view that the situation at present concerning cosmic-ray origin is as follows:

  1. (i)

    Cosmic-ray protons below 10 GeV or so, which produce the majority of γ-rays in the region 300–5000 MeV, are produced mainly in our Galaxy. The evidence against an extragalactic origin seems strong; there would then be consistency with the conclusions that the particles above 3x1011 eV (up to 1019 eV) are also mainly Galactic, an observation that comes from anisotropy measurements.

  2. (ii)

    The recent observations of changes of spectral shape of the γ-ray spectrum with changes of longitude and latitude add weight to the idea of Galactic origin. The details are not clear but a composite model involving supernova remnant acceleration preferentially in Galactic spiral arms and spectral modification by Galactic winds looks promising. The changes appear to relate to both electrons and protons.

  3. (iii)

    There is still evidence for an excess cosmic-ray intensity in the nearby Loop I SNR and the magnitude of the excess is of the order of that expected in terms of contemporary shock acceleration theory, again both electrons and protons are involved.

  4. (iv)

    There is weak but finite evidence for an excess cosmic-ray intensity in some local giant molecular clouds, the increase in intensity being greatest for those particles producing γ-rays of energy below about 150 MeV, presumably electrons.

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  1. Department of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, DH1 3LE, Durham, UK

    D. J. Van Der Walt & A. W. Wolfendale

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  1. D. J. Van Der Walt
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Van Der Walt, D.J., Wolfendale, A.W. Gamma rays and the origin of cosmic rays. Space Sci Rev 47, 1–45 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223236

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