EVIDENCE FOR SECONDARY EMISSION AS THE ORIGIN OF HARD SPECTRA IN TeV BLAZARS
We develop a model for the possible origin of hard, very high energy (VHE) spectra from a distant blazar. In the model, both the primary photons produced in the source and secondary photons produced outside it contribute to the observed high-energy {gamma}-ray emission. That is, the primary photons are produced through the synchrotron self-Compton process, and the secondary photons are produced through high-energy proton interactions with background photons along the line of sight. We apply the model to a characteristic case of VHE {gamma}-ray emission in the distant blazar 1ES 1101-232. Assuming suitable electron and proton spectra, we obtain excellent fits to the observed spectra of this blazar. This indicated that the surprisingly low attenuation of the high-energy {gamma}-rays, especially the shape of the VHE {gamma}-ray tail of the observed spectra, can be explained by secondary {gamma}-rays produced in interactions of cosmic-ray protons with background photons in intergalactic space.
- OSTI ID:
- 22167748
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 764, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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