Impact of cross sections uncertainties on the study of galactic cosmic-ray propagation with the DRAGON2 code

2021 
The study of galactic cosmic rays provides a valuable tool for understanding better the galactic environment, from the evolution of turbulence in the interstellar plasma to the exploration of new physical phenomena. Modern cosmic-ray experiments have reached very high precision in a wide energy range, which allow us to perform detailed tests on out models of particle propagation in the Galaxy. Nevertheless, these predictions are limited to other key piece: spallation cross sections measurements. The lack of data at energies above a few GeV/n, where most of the CR data are available, and the huge amount of interaction channels for production of different isotopes involved in the so-call spallation network make our predictions to be very uncertain (in some cases at the level of $50\%$). Therefore, in this talk we explore the consequences of cross sections uncertainties in the evaluation of the spectra of secondary CRs and the predictions on the propagation parameters that govern their production in the Galaxy. We quantify these uncertainties and examine their impact on our conclusions about the nature of secondary CRs and their propagation. In addition, due to the importance of spallation cross sections measurements in our codes of CR propagation, we show new ways to refine current cross sections parametrizations by combining different CR observables and reduce the impact of cross sections uncertainties on our predictions.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    0
    References
    0
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []