We perform the first direct consistency check between the recently measured proton spectrum at the knee by Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) and the collaboration's own high-precision mapping of Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission. By modeling the hadronic gamma-ray production using the updated cosmic-ray spectra, gas templates and cross-section models, we show that the predicted gamma-ray flux robustly overshoots the LHAASO data in both inner and lateral Galactic regions. This persistent mismatch in both normalization and spectral shape challenges conventional scenarios linking the local cosmic-ray sea to Galactic gamma-ray emission, and calls for a revision of current cosmic ray models in the TeV-PeV sky.
@article{arxiv.2506.06593,
title = {LHAASO protons versus LHAASO diffuse gamma-rays: a consistency check},
author = {Luis Enrique Espinosa Castro and Francesco Lorenzo Villante and Vittoria Vecchiotti and Carmelo Evoli and Giulia Pagliaroli},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.06593},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters. Final version of the manuscript. 7 pages, 7 figures