De-Excitation Gamma-ray Line Emission from the Galactic Center

Abstract

International audienceA future detection of de-excitation gamma-ray lines from the Galactic center region would provide unique information on the high-energy processes induced by the the central black hole and the physical conditions of the emitting region. We analyse the intensity of nuclear de-excitation lines in the direction of the Galactic center produced by subrelativistic protons, which are generated by star capture by the central black hole. With the metallicity two times higher than the solar one the total flux in gamma-ray lines of energies below 8 MeV is about 10−4 cm−2 s−1. The most promising lines for detection are those at 4.44 and 6.2 MeV, with a predicted flux in each line of 10−5 photons cm−2 s−1. We also analyze the possibility of detection of these lines by INTEGRAL and future missions