Cosmic ray tracers from gas-rich active galaxies

宇宙射线起源的确定是当今天体物理学领域最具挑战性和最有趣的问题之一。在CR产生点产生的中性宇宙射线二次射线非常适合研究宇宙射线的起源，特别是当不同波长的射线结合起来寻找相关信号时。在这里，它被提议用来预测富含气体的活跃星系中宇宙射线相互作用的高能量和低能特征。活动星系是少数满足宇宙射线加速至最高能量（即E ~ 1021 eV）的强制标准的候选者之一。对于含有大量气体的活跃星系，高能宇宙射线必然会与气体相互作用，从而产生高能中微子和光子，这些中微子和光子可以被冰立方和H.E.S.S./MAGIC/VERITAS望远镜探测到。在宇宙射线光谱的低能端，带电粒子使气体电离，从而导致分子离子的形成。后者发射的振动-旋转线可以在红外和毫米波长处观察到。新的望远镜，如赫歇尔的红外波长和ALMA的毫米波长，将非常适合进行调查。在这个提议中，计划计算高能（E > 100 GeV）和低能（E < 100 MeV）特征，旨在进行相关性研究，以帮助确定宇宙射线的来源。

The identification of the origin of cosmic rays (CRs) is one of the most challenging and most interesting questions in the field of astrophysics today. Neutral cosmic ray secondaries produced at the CR production site are well-suited for studies of the origin of cosmic rays, in particular when different wavelengths are combined to search for correlated signals. Here, it is proposed to predict high- and low-energy signatures from cosmic ray interactions in gas-rich active galaxies. Active galaxies are one of the few candidates that fulfill the mandatory criteria for the acceleration of cosmic rays up to the highest energies, i.e. up to E ~ 1021 eV. For active galaxies containing much gas, high-energy cosmic rays are bound to interact with the gas, which leads to the production of high-energy neutrinos and photons, detectable by the telescopes IceCube and H.E.S.S./MAGIC/VERITAS. At the low-energy end of the cosmic ray spectrum, the charged particles ionize the gas, which leads to the formation of molecular ions. The latter emit vibration-rotation lines can be observed at infrared and mm wavelengths. New telescopes like Herschel at infrared wavelengths and ALMA at mm wavelengths will be very well suited for investigations. In this proposal, it is planned to calculate both high-energy (E > 100 GeV) and low-energy (E < 100 MeV) signatures, aiming for a correlation study which can help identifying the sources of cosmic rays.