How to Use Molecular Clouds to Study the Propagation of Cosmic Rays in the Galaxy

S. Gabici (1)

1 APC - AHE - APC - Astrophysique des Hautes Energies

Observations of molecular clouds in the gamma ray domain provide us with a tool to study the distribution of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. This is because cosmic rays can penetrate molecular clouds, undergo hadronic interactions in the dense gas, and produce neutral pions that in turn decay into gamma rays. The detection of this radiation allows us to estimate the spectrum and intensity of cosmic rays at the cloud's position. Remarkably, this fact can be used to constrain the cosmic ray diffusion coefficient at specific locations in the Galaxy.

Mots clés: cosmic rays: origin and propagation; gamma rays; molecular clouds

Domaines: Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]; Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]

S. Gabici. How to Use Molecular Clouds to Study the Propagation of Cosmic Rays in the Galaxy. ICATPP Conference, Oct 2010, Como, Italy. pp.343-351, ⟨10.1142/9789814329033_0044⟩. ⟨hal-00719799⟩