Contribution of Pion Production by Primary Cosmic-Ray Nucleons to the Interstellar Electron-Positron Flux

Abstract

The secondary electron-positron component of high-energy cosmic radiation is calculated. Using the Feynman scaling law for the inclusive pion distribution function, it is shown that the secondary positron-electron component will have the same power law as the primary electron component if the proton and electron injection spectra are the same. Numerical estimates are made using an appropriate fit of the pion single-particle distribution function to accelerator data. The ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray component is also discussed.