We review the evidence for cosmic ray acceleration in the superbubble/hot phase of the interstellar medium, and discuss the implications for the composition of cosmic rays and the structure and evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM). We show that the bulk of the galactic supernovae, their expanding remnants, together with their metal-rich grain and gas ejecta, and their cosmic ray accelerating shocks, are all confined within the interiors of hot, low-density superbubbles, generated by the multiple supernova explosions of massive stars formed in giant OB associations. This superbubble/hot phase of the ISM provides throughout the age of the Galaxy a cosmic ray source of essentially constant metallicity for acceleration by the shocks of many supernovae over time scales of a few Myr, consistent with both Be/Fe evolution and ACE observations of We show that the expected metallicity (>2 times Solar) and filling factor (>50%) of the superbubble/hot phase is high enough that the composition of cosmic rays accelerated from fast, supernova grains in these superbubbles is quite consistent with the both Be/Fe and cosmic ray data, while their acceleration from grains in the well-mixed cooler phases of the ISM is not consistent with observations. We also show that if the refractory cosmic ray metals come from the sputtering of fast refractory grains then the accompanying scattering of ambient gas by these fast grains can also account for the relative abundance of cosmic ray volatiles.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
15 September 2000
ACCELERATION AND TRANSPORT OF ENERGETIC PARTICLES OBSERVED IN THE HELIOSPHERE: ACE 2000 Symposium
5-8 January 2000
Indian Wells,California (USA)
Research Article|
September 15 2000
Cosmic ray acceleration in superbubbles and the composition of cosmic rays
R. E. Lingenfelter;
R. E. Lingenfelter
1Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
Search for other works by this author on:
J. C. Higdon;
J. C. Higdon
2W. M. Keck Science Center, Claremont Colleges, Claremont, California
Search for other works by this author on:
R. Ramaty
R. Ramaty
3Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Search for other works by this author on:
AIP Conf. Proc. 528, 375–382 (2000)
Citation
R. E. Lingenfelter, J. C. Higdon, R. Ramaty; Cosmic ray acceleration in superbubbles and the composition of cosmic rays. AIP Conf. Proc. 15 September 2000; 528 (1): 375–382. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1324342
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
Inkjet- and flextrail-printing of silicon polymer-based inks for local passivating contacts
Zohreh Kiaee, Andreas Lösel, et al.
Effect of coupling agent type on the self-cleaning and anti-reflective behaviour of advance nanocoating for PV panels application
Taha Tareq Mohammed, Hadia Kadhim Judran, et al.
Design of a 100 MW solar power plant on wetland in Bangladesh
Apu Kowsar, Sumon Chandra Debnath, et al.
Related Content
Superbubbles: a laboratory for high energy astrophysics and cosmic‐ray physics
AIP Conference Proceedings (February 2005)
The Power Problem in Superbubbles
AIP Conference Proceedings (August 2009)
Gamma-ray line emission from superbubbles in the interstellar medium: The cygnus region
AIP Conference Proceedings (October 2001)
Halos, starbursts, and superbubbles in spirals
AIP Conference Proceedings (July 1994)
Probing the Galaxy with Superbubbles: Three Dimensional Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations
AIP Conference Proceedings (August 2009)