Abstract
Abstract High-energy cosmic rays (CRs) can be accelerated in the relativistic jets of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) powered by supermassive black holes. The baryon loading efficiency onto relativistic CR baryons from the accreting black holes is poorly constrained by observations so far. In this paper, we suggest that the γ-ray emission of galaxy clusters can be used to study the baryon loading factor of AGN jets, since CRs injected by AGN jets are completely confined in the galaxy clusters and sufficiently interact with the intracluster medium via a hadronic process, producing diffuse γ-rays. We study the propagation of CRs in the galaxy clusters and calculate the radial distribution of the γ-rays in the galaxy cluster with different injection rates from AGNs. By comparison with the γ-ray flux and upper limits of the Coma cluster measured by Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, we find the upper limit of the average baryon loading factor (defined as the efficiency with which the gravitational energy is converted into relativistic particles) to be η p,grav < 0.1. The upper limit is much lower than that required to account for diffuse neutrino flux in the conventional blazar models.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
