Cosmic-Ray Energy Changes in the Heliosphere. II. The Effect on K-Capture Electron Secondaries

Recent accurate measurements of the cosmic-ray intensity ratio (51)V/(51)Cr below 1 GeV nucleon(-1) provide a powerful new tool to study cosmic-ray modulation in the heliosphere. This paper describes how energy changes during this modulation process influence this ratio. In particular, our model inc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2007-07, Vol.663 (2), p.1335-1339
Main Authors: Caballero-Lopez, R. A, Moraal, H, Mewaldt, R. A, McDonald, F. B, Wiedenbeck, M. E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
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Summary:Recent accurate measurements of the cosmic-ray intensity ratio (51)V/(51)Cr below 1 GeV nucleon(-1) provide a powerful new tool to study cosmic-ray modulation in the heliosphere. This paper describes how energy changes during this modulation process influence this ratio. In particular, our model includes acceleration at the solar wind termination shock, and we find that this mechanism significantly enhances the (51)V/(51)Cr ratio at 1 AU. It is also shown that this acceleration makes the ratio more sensitive to the form of local low-energy interstellar spectra, below 6100 MeV nucleon(-1), than without it. Specifically, this acceleration provides an independent confirmation of the consensus that low-energy spectra should be flatter than their high-energy power-law forms.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1086/518394