Inferred Cosmic-Ray Spectrum from Fermi Large Area Telescope γ-Ray Observations of Earth’s Limb

Ackermann, M.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.151103

Title: Inferred Cosmic-Ray Spectrum from Fermi Large Area Telescope γ-Ray Observations of Earth’s Limb

Journal Article · Thu Apr 17 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.151103· OSTI ID:1333179

Ackermann, M.

Recent accurate measurements of cosmic-ray (CR) species by ATIC-2, CREAM, and PAMELA reveal an unexpected hardening in the proton and He spectra above a few hundred GeV, a gradual softening of the spectra just below a few hundred GeV, and a harder spectrum of He compared to that of protons. These newly-discovered features may offer a clue to the origin of high-energy CRs. We use the $${\it Fermi}$$ Large Area Telescope observations of the $$\gamma$$-ray emission from the Earth's limb for an indirect measurement of the local spectrum of CR protons in the energy range $$\sim 90~$$GeV-$6~$TeV (derived from a photon energy range $15~$GeV-$1~$TeV). Our analysis shows that single power law and broken power law spectra fit the data equally well and yield a proton spectrum with index $$2.68 \pm 0.04$$ and $$2.61 \pm 0.08$$ above $$\sim 200~$$GeV, respectively.

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Research Organization:: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)

Contributing Organization:: Fermi-LAT

DOE Contract Number:: AC02-07CH11359

OSTI ID:: 1333179

Report Number(s):: arXiv:1403.5372; FERMILAB-PUB-14-378-A; 1286734

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 112; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Background for a gamma-ray satellite on a low-Earth orbit Cumani, P.; Hernanz, M.; Kiener, J. Experimental Astronomy, Vol. 47, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-019-09624-0	journal	March 2019
Pion Production Momentum loss of Cosmic ray Hadrons Krakau, S.; Schlickeiser, R. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 802, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/802/2/114	journal	March 2015
Long-term Multiband Study of High-redshift Blazar S5 0836+71 Yang, Jianping; Yang, Chuyuan; Zhou, Bing Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 131, Issue 995 https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/aaeae6	journal	December 2018
Deciphering the Local Interstellar Spectra of Secondary Nuclei with the Galprop/Helmod Framework and a Hint for Primary Lithium in Cosmic Rays Boschini, M. J.; Torre, S. Della; Gervasi, M. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 889, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab64f1	journal	February 2020
Precision Measurement of the Proton Flux in Primary Cosmic Rays from Rigidity 1 GV to 1.8 TV with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station Aguilar, M.; Aisa, D.; Alpat, B. RWTH Aachen University https://doi.org/10.18154/rwth-2015-06052	text	January 2015
Background for a gamma-ray satellite on a low-Earth orbit Cumani, P.; Hernanz, M.; Kiener, J. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1902.06944	text	January 2019

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