Circum-galactic gas and the isotropic gamma-ray background

Abstract

Interactions of cosmic rays with the interstellar medium in the disk of the Milky Way provide the majority of the diffuse gamma-ray emission observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. In addition to the gas which is densely concentrated along the galactic plane, hydrodynamical simulations and observational evidence favor the presence of a halo of hot (T ∼ 10 6 K) ionized hydrogen (H II), extending with non-negligible densities out to the virial radius of the Milky Way. We show that cosmic-ray collisions with this circum-galactic gas should be expected to provide on the order of 3%-10% of the observed isotopic gamma-ray background at energies above 1 GeV. In addition, gamma rays originating from the extended H II halos of other galaxies along a given line of sight should contribute at a similar level. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.