Related papers: How to use molecular clouds to study the propagati…
This paper deals with the cosmic-ray penetration into molecular clouds and with the related gamma--ray emission. High energy cosmic rays interact with the dense gas and produce neutral pions which in turn decay into two gamma rays. This…
We will here discuss how the gamma-ray emission from molecular clouds can be used to probe the cosmic ray flux in distant regions of the Galaxy and to constrain the highly unknown cosmic ray diffusion coefficient. In particular we will…
It is believed that the observed diffuse gamma ray emission from the galactic plane is the result of interactions between cosmic rays and the interstellar gas. Such emission can be amplified if cosmic rays penetrate into dense molecular…
The study of Galactic diffuse $\gamma$ radiation combined with the knowledge of the distribution of the molecular hydrogen in the Galaxy offers a unique tool to probe the cosmic ray flux in the Galaxy. A methodology to study the level of…
Cosmic rays are a fundamental source of ionization for molecular and diffuse clouds, influencing their chemical, thermal, and dynamical evolution. The amount of cosmic rays inside a cloud also determines the $\gamma$-ray flux produced by…
The advent of high sensitivity, high resolution gamma-ray detectors, together with a knowledge of the distribution of the atomic hydrogen and especially of the molecular hydrogen in the Galaxy on sub-degree scales creates a unique…
The study of the gamma-ray radiation produced by cosmic rays that escape their accelerators is of paramount importance for (at least) two reasons: first, the detection of those gamma-ray photons can serve to identify the sources of cosmic…
Cosmic rays are the main agents in controlling the chemical evolution and setting the ambipolar diffusion time of a molecular cloud. We summarise the processes causing the energy degradation of cosmic rays due to their interaction with…
Cosmic rays fill up the entire volume of galaxies, providing an important source of heating and ionisation of the interstellar medium, and may play a significant role in the regulation of star formation and galactic evolution. Diffuse…
Cosmic rays are a fundamental source of ionization for molecular and diffuse clouds, influencing their chemical, thermal, and dynamical evolution. The amount of cosmic rays inside a cloud also determines the $\gamma$-ray flux produced by…
Continuum gamma-ray emission produced by interactions of cosmic rays with interstellar matter and radiation fields is a probe of non-thermal particle populations in galaxies. After decades of continuous improvements in experimental…
Gamma-ray emission from large structures is useful for tracing the propagation and distribution of cosmic rays throughout our Galaxy. For example, the search for gamma-ray emission from Giant Molecular Clouds may allow us to probe the flux…
The cosmic-ray flux in the Galaxy can be characterized by combining the knowledge of the distribution of gas in the Galaxy and the observation of gamma rays. We analyze the data from the HAWC Observatory to look for gamma rays in three…
Cosmic rays are usually assumed to be the main ionization agent for the interior of molecular clouds where UV and X-ray photons cannot penetrate. Here we test this hypothesis by limiting ourselves to the case of diffuse clouds and assuming…
The total cosmic-ray luminosity of the Galaxy is an important constraint on models of cosmic-ray generation. The diffuse high energy $\gamma$-ray and radio-synchrotron emissions of the Milky Way are used to derive this luminosity. The…
This work presents preliminary results for the time-dependent cosmic-ray propagation in the Galaxy by a fully 3-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation. The distribution of cosmic-rays (both protons and helium nuclei) in the Galaxy is studied on…
The density of cosmic rays inside molecular clouds determines the ionization rate in the dense cores where stars form. It is also one of the drivers of astrochemistry leading to the creation of complex molecules. Through Fermi Large Area…
Pulsars are factories of relativistic electrons and positrons that propagate away from the pulsar, permeating later our Galaxy. The acceleration and propagation of these particles are a matter of intense debate. In the last few years, we…
The last decade has been dense with new developments in the search for the sources of Galactic cosmic rays. Some of these developments have confirmed the tight connection between cosmic rays and supernovae in our Galaxy, through the…
Cosmic rays are nowadays a crucial tool to study the astrophysics of extreme objects in the Universe, the cosmic environmental plasma (both Galactic and extra-galactic), the physics of nuclear interactions or the properties of elementary…