Related papers: Molecular Clouds as Cosmic Ray Laboratories
The propagation of high-energy cosmic rays through giant molecular clouds constitutes a fundamental process in astronomy and astrophysics. The diffusion of cosmic-rays through these magnetically turbulent environments is often studied…
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…
The Galactic gamma-ray diffuse emission is currently observed in the GeV-TeV energy range with unprecedented accuracy by the Fermi satellite. Understanding this component is crucial as it provides a background to many different signals such…
GeV and TeV gamma rays have been detected from the supernova remnant W28 and its surroundings. Such emission correlates quite well with the position of dense and massive molecular clouds and thus it is often interpreted as the result of…
Massive protostars have associated bipolar outflows with velocities of hundreds of km/s. Such outflows produce strong shocks when interact with the ambient medium leading to regions of non-thermal radio emission. Under certain conditions,…
Diffusive shock acceleration in supernova remnants is the most widely invoked paradigm to explain the Galactic cosmic ray spectrum. Cosmic rays escaping supernova remnants diffuse in the interstellar medium and collide with the ambient…
The distribution of cosmic rays in the Galaxy at energies above few TeVs is still uncertain and this affects the expectations for the diffuse gamma flux produced by hadronic interactions of cosmic rays with the interstellar gas. We show…
Cosmic rays are charged energetic particles that permeate the interstellar medium. Their sizeable energy share and penetration power makes them essential players in the dynamical and chemical processes that rule Galactic evolution, such as…
Observations of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from supernova remnants (SNR) established them as sources of accelerated particles up to energies of 100 TeV. The dominant process - leptonic or hadronic - responsible for the VHE…
It is argued that if cosmic rays penetrate into molecular clouds, the total energy they lose can exceed the energy from galactic supernovae shocks. It is shown that most likely galactic cosmic rays interacting with the surface layers of…
The origin of Galactic cosmic rays (with energies up to 10^15 eV) remains unclear, though it is widely believed that they originate in the shock waves of expanding supernova remnants. Currently the best way to investigate their acceleration…
Massive protostars have associated bipolar outflows with velocities of hundreds of km s$^{-1}$. Such outflows can produce strong shocks when interact with the ambient medium leading to regions of non-thermal radio emission. We aim at…
Cosmic rays in the inner solar system are subject to deflection by both the geomagnetic and interplanetary magnetic fields, and simultaneously interact with the Sun's photosphere resulting in the production of gamma rays. This phenomenon…
Molecular clouds act as primary targets for cosmic-ray interactions and are expected to shine in gamma-rays as a by-product of these interactions. Indeed several detected gamma-ray sources both in HE and VHE gamma-rays (HE: 100 MeV < E <…
Interstellar clouds can act as target material for hadronic cosmic rays; gamma rays subsequently produced through inelastic proton-proton collisions and spatially associated with such clouds can provide a key indicator of efficient particle…
The field of TeV gamma-ray astronomy is reviewed with emphasis on its relation to the origin of cosmic rays. The discovery of TeV photons from supernova remnants and active galaxies has provided the first direct observational link between…
Energetic gamma rays (GeV to TeV photon energy) have been detected toward several supernova remnants (SNR) associated with molecular clouds. If the gamma rays are produced mainly by hadronic processes rather than leptonic processes like…
It is widely believed that supernova remnants are the best candidate sources for the observed cosmic ray flux up to the knee, i.e. up to ~PeV energies. Indeed, the gamma-ray spectra of some supernova remnants can be well explained by…
Recent results of GeV and TeV observations of gamma-rays from the Universe are briefly reviewed. Topics include observational technique, diffuse gamma-rays, pulsars, unidentified sources, plerions, supernova remnants and AGNs.
Galactic cosmic rays are commonly believed to be accelerated at supernova remnants via diffusive shock acceleration. Despite the popularity of this idea, a conclusive proof for its validity is still missing. Gamma-ray astronomy provides us…