1999/09/01 by R. Ramaty, S. T. Scully, Sean T. Scully +3 · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/308793
latex 19 pages, 2 tables, 10 eps figures, uses aastex.cls natbib.sty Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal
arxiv created 1999/09/01 · openalex publication_date 2000/05/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Using cosmic-ray energetics as a discriminator, we investigate the viability of evolutionary models for the light elements Li, Be, and B (LiBeB). We find that models in which the cosmic rays are accelerated mainly out of the average interstellar medium which is increasingly metal-poor at early times significantly underpredict the measured Be abundance of the early Galaxy, the possible increase in [O/Fe] with decreasing [Fe/H] indicated by some recent data notwithstanding. On the other hand, if the cosmic-ray metals are accelerated primarily out of supernova ejecta-enriched superbubbles, such that the cosmic-ray source composition as a function of [Fe/H] remains similar to that of the current epoch, the measured Be abundances are consistent with a cosmic-ray acceleration efficiency that is in very good agreement with the current epoch data. This model requires the incorporation of neutrino-produced 11 B. We show that, even though the production histories of the cosmic-ray-produced B and Be and the neutrino-produced 11 B are different, B/Be can remain essentially constant as a function of [Fe/H]. We also find that neither the above cosmic-ray origin models nor a model employing low-energy cosmic rays originating from the supernovae of only very massive progenitors can account for the 6 Li data at values of [Fe/H] below -2.