English

Galactic Super-Accreting X-ray Binaries as Super-PeVatron Accelerators

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2025-07-29 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Abstract

The extension of the cosmic-ray (CR) spectrum well beyond 1~PeV necessitates the existence of a population of accelerators in the Milky Way, which we refer to as Super PeVatrons. Identifying the nature of these sources remains a challenge to the paradigm of galactic CRs. Galactic super-accreting X-ray binaries, where the compact object accretes at a rate near or above the Eddington limit, can meet the energy requirement to supply the high-energy population of galactic CRs. We demonstrate that the trans-relativistic jets and/or winds of these powerful objects with kinetic energy luminosity exceeding 1039erg/s10^{39} \, \rm erg/s, can accelerate protons to energies above several PeV. Detection of such super-accreting X-ray binaries through their ultra-high-energy γ\gamma-ray ``halos" and large-scale nebulae is also discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.21048,
  title  = {Galactic Super-Accreting X-ray Binaries as Super-PeVatron Accelerators},
  author = {Jieshuang Wang and Brian Reville and Felix Aharonian},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.21048},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

12 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, 2 appendices. Accepted to ApJL on July 23, 2025, submitted on December 21, 2024

R2 v1 2026-07-01T04:22:30.772Z