Exotic PeVatrons as sources of ultra-high-energy gamma rays
Abstract
We explore novel classes of exotic astrophysical sources capable of producing ultra-high-energy gamma rays extending beyond the PeV scale, motivated by quantum gravity scenarios and dark matter phenomenology. These sources include: ultra-spinning black hole vortex-string systems; exotic compact objects such as boson star, axion star and Q-ball. Such Exotica generate powerful magnetic fields through interactions with millicharged dark matter, enabling particle acceleration mechanisms that surpass the energy limits of conventional astrophysical sources like pulsar wind nebulae and supernova remnants. We demonstrate that such exotic PeVatrons could be distributed throughout our Galaxy and may be detectable by current (LHAASO, HAWC) and next-generation (CTA) gamma-ray observatories.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.00254,
title = {Exotic PeVatrons as sources of ultra-high-energy gamma rays},
author = {Andrea Addazi and Salvatore Capozziello and Qingyu Gan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.00254},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
accepted in Journal of High Energy Astrophysics