# Towards Understanding the Origin of Cosmic-Ray Positrons

AMS Collaboration; Aguilar, M.; Ali Cavasonza, L.; Ambrosi, G.; Arruda, L.; Attig, N.; Azzarello, P.; Bachlechner, A.; Barao, F.; Barrau, A.; Barrin, L.; Bartoloni, A.; Basara, L.; Başeǧmez-Du Pree, S.; Battiston, R.; Becker, U.; Behlmann, M.; Beischer, B.; Berdugo, J.; Bertucci, B.; Bindi, V.; ... mehr

Abstract:
Precision measurements of cosmic ray positrons are presented up to 1 TeV based on 1.9 million positrons collected by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station. The positron flux exhibits complex energy dependence. Its distinctive properties are (a) a significant excess starting from 25.2±1.8  GeV compared to the lower-energy, power-law trend, (b) a sharp dropoff above 284
+91
−64  GeV, (c) in the entire energy range the positron flux is well described by the sum of a term associated with the positrons produced in the collision of cosmic rays, which dominates at low energies, and a new source term of positrons, which dominates at high energies, and (d) a finite energy cutoff of the source term of Es=810
+310
−180  GeV is established with a significance of more than 4σ. These experimental data on cosmic ray positrons show that, at high energies, they predominantly originate either from dark matter annihilation or from other astrophysical sources.

 Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Experimentelle Teilchenphysik (ETP) Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz Jahr 2019 Sprache Englisch Identifikator ISSN: 0031-9007, 1079-7114, 1092-0145 URN: urn:nbn:de:swb:90-911503 KITopen-ID: 1000091150 Erschienen in Physical review letters Band 122 Heft 4 Seiten Article: 041102 Nachgewiesen in Scopus
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