NEW CALCULATION OF ANTIPROTON PRODUCTION BY COSMIC RAY PROTONS AND NUCLEI.

Area of Science:

• High-energy astrophysics
• Particle physics
• Cosmic ray physics

Background:

• Recent cosmic ray (CR) measurements show a puzzling rise in the positron fraction above ~10 GeV.
• Antiprotons in CRs are crucial for understanding these anomalies and searching for new physics.
• Current astrophysical models often use outdated parameterizations for antiproton production calculations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To recalculate antiproton production cross sections using advanced Monte Carlo (MC) generators.
• To compare these new calculations with commonly used astrophysical parameterizations.
• To assess the impact of updated antiproton production models on cosmic ray interpretation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized EPOS-LHC and QGSJET-II-04 MC generators, tuned to Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data.
• Calculated antiproton production in proton-proton (pp), proton-nucleus (pA), and nucleus-nucleus (AA) interactions.
• Compared MC generator yields with existing parameterizations used in astrophysics.

Main Results:

• Antiproton yields from EPOS-LHC and QGSJET-II-04 differ significantly from current astrophysical parameterizations.
• The discrepancies reach up to an order of magnitude.
• This highlights potential inaccuracies in the interpretation of existing antiproton data.

Conclusions:

• Advanced MC generators provide more reliable antiproton production cross sections.
• Outdated parameterizations in astrophysical models may lead to misinterpretations of cosmic ray data.
• Updated models are essential for accurate astrophysical applications and the search for new physics.