14 research outputs found
Gamma rays from molecular clouds
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 clouds. The propagation of cosmic rays inside a molecular cloud has
been studied assuming an arbitrary energy and space dependent diffusion
coefficient. If the diffusion coefficient inside the cloud is significantly
smaller compared to the average one derived for the galactic disk, the observed
gamma ray spectrum appears harder than the cosmic ray spectrum, mainly due to
the slower penetration of the low energy particles towards the core of the
cloud. This may produce a great variety of gamma ray spectra.Comment: Proceeding of "The multi messenger approach to high energy gamma ray
sources", Barcelona, June 200