Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and the GeV-TeV diffuse gamma-ray flux

O.E. Kalashev , D.V. Semikoz (1) , G. Sigl (2)

1 APC - THEORIE
2 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie

Ultra-high energy cosmic ray protons accelerated in astrophysical objects produce secondary electromagnetic cascades during propagation in the cosmic microwave and infrared backgrounds. We show that such cascades can contribute between ~1% and ~50% of the GeV-TeV diffuse photon flux measured by the EGRET experiment. The GLAST satellite should have a good chance to discover this flux.

Mots clés: Cosmic rays; Background radiations

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Physique des Hautes Energies - Phénoménologie [hep-ph]

O.E. Kalashev, D.V. Semikoz, G. Sigl. Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and the GeV-TeV diffuse gamma-ray flux. Physical Review D, 2009, 79, pp.063005. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevD.79.063005⟩. ⟨in2p3-00142938⟩