Anomalous Distributions of Primary Cosmic Rays as Evidence for Time-dependent Particle Acceleration in Supernova Remnants

Abstract

Abstract Recent precise measurements of cosmic-ray (CR) spectra show that the energy distribution of protons is softer than those of heavier nuclei, and there are spectral hardenings for all nuclear compositions above ∼200 GV. Models proposed for these anomalies generally assume steady-state solutions of the particle acceleration process. We show that if the diffusion coefficient has a weak dependence on the particle rigidity near shock fronts of supernova remnants (SNRs), time-dependent solutions of the linear diffusive shock acceleration at two stages of SNR evolution can naturally account for these anomalies. The high-energy component of CRs is dominated by acceleration in the free expansion and adiabatic phases with enriched heavy elements and a high shock speed. The low-energy component may be attributed to acceleration by slow shocks propagating in dense molecular clouds with low metallicity in the radiative phase. Instead of a single power-law distribution, the spectra of time-dependent solutions soften gradually with the increase of energy, which may be responsible for the “knee” of CRs.