Abstract
The production of ultrahigh energy photons, electrons and neutrinos as the decay products of pions produced in photomeson interactions between cosmic-ray nucleons and the blackbody microwave background is discussed in terms of the resultant energy spectra of these particles. Simple asymptotic formulas are given for calculating the ultrahigh energy photon spectrum predicted for the universal cosmic-ray hypothesis and the resulting spectra are compared with those obtained previously by numerical means using a different propagation equation for the photons. Approximate analytic solutions for the photon spectra are given in terms of simple power-law energy functions and slowly varying logarithmic functions. These can be used to estimate ultrahigh energy photon fluxes for various astrophysical parameters. The generic relation between the various secondary components is then discussed in terms of their astrophysical implications which are summarized in the conclusion.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allcock, M. C. and Wdowczyk, J.: 1972,Il Nuovo Cimento 9B, 315.
Andrews, D., Edge, D. M., Evans, A. C., Reid, R. J. O., and Tennent, A. M.: 1971,Proc. 12th Int'l. Conf. on Cosmic Rays, 993.
Berezinsky, V. S. and Zatsepin, G. T. 1969a,Phys. Letters 28B, 423.
Berezinsky, V. S. and Zatsepin, G. T.: 1969b,Yad. Fiz. 10, 1228. Translation:Soviet J. Nuc. Phys. 10, 696 (1970).
Bjorken, J. D. and Paschos, E. A.: 1970,Phys. Rev. D1, 3151.
Brecher, K. and Burbidge, G. R.: 1972,Astrophys. J. 174, 253.
Brecher, K. and Blumenthal, G. R.: 1970,Astrophys. Letters 6, 169.
Bonometto, S. A.: 1971,Il Nuovo Cimento Letters 1, 677.
Feynman, R. P.: 1969,Phys. Rev. Letters 23, 1415.
Gould, R. J. and Schréder, G. P.: 1967,Phys. Rev. Letters 16, 252.
Gould, R. J. and Schréder, G. P.: 1967,Phys. Rev. 155, 1404.
Jelly, J. V.: 1966,Phys. Rev. Letters 16, 479.
Linsley, J.: 1963,Phys. Rev. Letters 9, 126.
Krishnawamy, M. R., Menon, M. G. K., Narasimham, V. S., Hinotani, K., Ito, N., Miyake, S., Osborne, J. L., Parsons, A. J., and Wolfendale, A. W.: 1971,Proc. Roy. Soc. London A323, 489.
Pattison, J. B. M.: 1970,Acta Phys. Sci. Hung. 29 Suppl. 4, 337.
Stecker, F. W.: 1968,Phys. Rev. Letters 14, 1016.
Stecker, F. W.: 1969,Phys. Rev. 180, 1264.
Stecker, F. W.: 1971,Nature Phys. Sci. 234, 28.
Syrovatsky, S. I.: 1971,Comm. Astrophys. Space Phys. 3, 140.
Wdowczyk, J., Tkaczyk, W., Adcock, C., and Wolfendale, A. W.: 1971a,J. Phys. A 4, L37.
Wdowczyk, J., Tkaczyk, W., Adcock, C., and Wolfendale A. W.: 1971b,Proc. 12th Int'l. Conf. on Cosmic Rays, 965.
Wdowczyk, J., Tkaczyk, W., and Wolfendale, A. W.: 1972,J. Phys. A5, 1419.
Wdowczyk, J. and Wolfendale, A. W.: 1972,Nature Phys. Sci. 236, 29.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stecker, F.W. Ultrahigh energy photons, electrons, and neutrinos, the microwave background, and the universal cosmic-ray hypothesis. Astrophys Space Sci 20, 47–57 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00645585
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00645585