Microquasar Remnants as Pevatrons Illuminating the Galactic Cosmic Ray Knee
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arXiv
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866908823079354368 |
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| author | Zhang, Bing Theodore Yu, Shiqi |
| author_facet | Zhang, Bing Theodore Yu, Shiqi |
| contents | Microquasars are primary candidates for Galactic PeVatrons, yet their collective contribution to the cosmic ray (CR) ``knee" remains poorly understood. We investigate this contribution by simulating anisotropic diffusive propagation through the Galactic magnetic field (GMF). Our results demonstrate that the GMF establishes a transport regime where magnetic connectivity between sources and the solar neighborhood determines the local flux. Active sources aligned with local GMF lines, such as Cygnus X-1, exhibit significant flux enhancements, while magnetically disconnected sources, such as V616 Mon, are strongly suppressed. By integrating source evolution with anisotropic transport, we show that the observed proton bump at the CR ``knee" is best reproduced by the cumulative contribution of microquasar remnants, which is often dominated by a few nearby or recent events, rather than the active ones alone. We find that a harder injection spectrum allows CRs from remnants to reproduce the PeV bump after propagation, as low-energy CRs have sufficient time to accumulate while high-energy CRs escape the Galactic plane. Our findings suggest that the integrated history of microquasar remnants, governed by the interplay of source age and magnetic connectivity, is the primary driver populating the observed CR ``knee''. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_08940 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Microquasar Remnants as Pevatrons Illuminating the Galactic Cosmic Ray Knee Zhang, Bing Theodore Yu, Shiqi High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Microquasars are primary candidates for Galactic PeVatrons, yet their collective contribution to the cosmic ray (CR) ``knee" remains poorly understood. We investigate this contribution by simulating anisotropic diffusive propagation through the Galactic magnetic field (GMF). Our results demonstrate that the GMF establishes a transport regime where magnetic connectivity between sources and the solar neighborhood determines the local flux. Active sources aligned with local GMF lines, such as Cygnus X-1, exhibit significant flux enhancements, while magnetically disconnected sources, such as V616 Mon, are strongly suppressed. By integrating source evolution with anisotropic transport, we show that the observed proton bump at the CR ``knee" is best reproduced by the cumulative contribution of microquasar remnants, which is often dominated by a few nearby or recent events, rather than the active ones alone. We find that a harder injection spectrum allows CRs from remnants to reproduce the PeV bump after propagation, as low-energy CRs have sufficient time to accumulate while high-energy CRs escape the Galactic plane. Our findings suggest that the integrated history of microquasar remnants, governed by the interplay of source age and magnetic connectivity, is the primary driver populating the observed CR ``knee''. |
| title | Microquasar Remnants as Pevatrons Illuminating the Galactic Cosmic Ray Knee |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.08940 |