Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 071102 (2006) [4 pages]Stringent Constraint on Galactic Positron ProductionReceived 7 May 2006; revised 24 July 2006; published 18 August 2006 The intense 0.511 MeV gamma-ray line emission from the Galactic Center observed by INTEGRAL requires a large annihilation rate of nonrelativistic positrons. If these positrons are injected at even mildly relativistic energies, higher-energy gamma rays will also be produced. We calculate the gamma-ray spectrum due to inflight annihilation and compare it with the observed diffuse Galactic gamma-ray data. Even with a simplified but conservative treatment, we find that the positron injection energies must be ≲3 MeV, which strongly constrains models for Galactic positron production. © 2006 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.071102
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.071102
PACS:
98.70.Rz, 98.35.Jk, 98.70.Sa
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