Paper detail

Gamma-ray sky points to radial gradients in cosmic-ray transport

The standard approach to cosmic-ray (CR) propagation in the Galaxy is based on the assumption that local transport properties can be extrapolated to the whole CR confining volume. Such models tend to underestimate the gamma-ray flux above few GeV measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope towards the inner Galactic plane. We consider here for the first time a phenomenological scenario allowing for both the rigidity scaling of the diffusion coefficient and convective effects to be position-dependent. We show that within this approach we can reproduce the observed gamma-ray spectra at both low and mid Galactic latitudes - including the Galactic center - without spoiling any local CR observable.