COSMIC RAYS FROM ACCRETING ISOLATED NEUTRON STARS

Interstellar matter that is accreted onto isolated magnetic neutron stars in the Galaxy (\(\sim 10^9\) by number) is accelerated and reflected back by MHD shocks, which envelope the stars. The integrated power in the Galaxy \(L_{cr,ns}\) is \( \sgreat 10^{40} {\rm erg \ s^{-1} }\), the energy distri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 1995-01
Main Author: Shemi, Amotz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Background radiation
Cosmic rays
Deposition
Energy distribution
First ionization potential
Galactic cosmic rays
Galactic disk
Galaxies
Gamma rays
High energy astronomy
Interstellar matter
Luminosity
Neutron stars
Neutrons
Particle energy
Primary cosmic rays
Soft x rays
Stars
Stars & galaxies
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Summary:Interstellar matter that is accreted onto isolated magnetic neutron stars in the Galaxy (\(\sim 10^9\) by number) is accelerated and reflected back by MHD shocks, which envelope the stars. The integrated power in the Galaxy \(L_{cr,ns}\) is \( \sgreat 10^{40} {\rm erg \ s^{-1} }\), the energy distribution is a power law of spectral index \(> 2\), and the particle energy can be raised to \(10^6\) GeV, consistent with the power and spectrum of primary cosmic rays in the Galaxy. The major contribution for \(L_{cr,ns}\) comes from a minority of \(\sim 10^7\) isolated neutron stars which are located within dense clouds. Sources in these clouds, that are generally spread within the Galactic disk, can explain the concentration of high-energy cosmic rays in the Galactic plane, as deduced from pion decay spectra in gamma-ray observations. The soft X-ray luminosity from these neutron stars is consistent with the Galactic X-ray background. The accretion may be associated with ion-neutral bias, that is further enhanced by ion confinement in frozen-in magnetic fields, which can raise the relative abundance of first ionization potential (FIP) elements in the cosmic rays.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.9501081