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Annihilation of matter and antimatter and the cosmic X-ray background

Abstract

IN cosmological models where matter and antimatter occur symmetrically in the Universe1–5, their annihilation is likely to take place also at the present time. At the annihilation of a proton and an antiproton, 1.6 negative electrons and an equal number of positrons, each with an energy of 10–100 MeV are produced (Fig. 1), together with γ rays and neutrinos6. The initial electron energies can be expected to decrease gradually because of their interaction with cosmic magnetic fields, plasmas, and electromagnetic radiation. As a result of these interactions synchrotron radiation, bremsstrahlung, and inverse Compton radiation are all emitted. When optical photons are scattered against the relativistic electrons, X rays are produced by the inverse Compton effect. This mechanism may be an important source of cosmic X rays. Our purpose here is to study how efficient this X-ray mechanism can be in intergalactic space (where most of the annihilation electrons are expected to be found) and to see whether it can offer an explanation to the cosmic X-ray background observed (see refs 7–9).

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CARLQVIST, P., LAURENT, B. Annihilation of matter and antimatter and the cosmic X-ray background. Nature 260, 225–226 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/260225a0

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