The Observed Galactic Annihilation Line: Possible Signature of Accreting Small Mass Black Holes in the Galactic Center

Lev Titarchuk (GMU/NRL/GSFC) and Pascal Chardonnet (LAPTH/LAPP)

Paper: ApJ (2006), Vol. 639 (March 10, 2006), in press


Abstract:

Various balloon and satellite observatories have revealed what appears to be an extended source of 0.511 MeV annihilation radiation with flux of 10-3 photons cm-2 s-1 centered on the Galactic Center. Positrons from radioactive products of stellar explosions can account for a significant fraction of the emission. We discuss an additional source for this emission: namely e+e- pairs produced when X-rays generated from the 2.6x106 M solar mass Galactic Center Black Hole interact with 10 MeV temperature blackbody emission from 1017 g black holes within 1014-15 cm of the center. The number of such Small Mass Black Holes (SMMBHs) can account for the production of the 1042 e+ s-1 that produces the observed annihilation in the inner Galaxy when transport effects are taken into account. We consider the possibility for confirming the presence of these SMMBHs in the Galactic Center region with future generations of gamma-ray instruments if a blackbody like emission of 10 MeV temperature would be detected by them. Small Mass Black Hole can be a potential candidate for dark (invisible) matter halo.


Preprints available from the authors at lev.titarchuk@nrl.navy.mil , or the raw TeX (no figures) if you click here.

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