SIMPLIFIED MODELS FOR PHOTOHADRONIC INTERACTIONS IN COSMIC ACCELERATORS

Journal Article · Mon Sep 20 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/721/1/630· OSTI ID:21464834

Huemmer, S; Rueger, M; Spanier, F; Winter, W ^[1]

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1. Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universitaet Wuerzburg, 97074 Wuerzburg (Germany)

We discuss simplified models for photo-meson production in cosmic accelerators, such as active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Our self-consistent models are directly based on the underlying physics used in the SOPHIA software and can be easily adapted if new data are included. They allow for the efficient computation of neutrino and photon spectra (from {pi}{sup 0} decays) as a major requirement of modern time-dependent simulations of the astrophysical sources and parameter studies. In addition, the secondaries (pions and muons) are explicitly generated, a necessity if cooling processes are to be included. For the neutrino production, we include the helicity dependence of the muon decays which in fact leads to larger corrections than the details of the interaction model. The separate computation of the {pi}{sup 0}, {pi}{sup +}, and {pi}{sup -} fluxes allows, for instance, for flavor ratio predictions of the neutrinos at the source, which are a requirement of many tests of neutrino properties using astrophysical sources. We confirm that for charged pion generation, the often used production by the {Delta}(1232)-resonance is typically not the dominant process in AGNs and GRBs, and we show, for arbitrary input spectra, that the number of neutrinos are underestimated by at least a factor of two if they are obtained from the neutral-to-charged pion ratio. We compare our results for several levels of simplification using isotropic synchrotron and thermal spectra and demonstrate that they are sufficiently close to the SOPHIA software.

• OSTI ID: 21464834
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 721, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/721/1/630; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COMPUTER CODES
COSMIC GAMMA BURSTS
DELTA-1232 BARYONS
FLAVOR MODEL
GALAXIES
GALAXY NUCLEI
MUONS
NEUTRINOS
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
PHOTONS
PIONS MINUS
PIONS NEUTRAL
PIONS PLUS
TIME DEPENDENCE
BARYONS
BOSONS
COMPOSITE MODELS
COSMIC RADIATION
DELTA BARYONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
HADRONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LEPTONS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MESONS
N*BARYONS
PARTICLE MODELS
PHYSICS
PIONS
PRIMARY COSMIC RADIATION
PSEUDOSCALAR MESONS
QUARK MODEL
RADIATIONS