# 1 A time-dependent model for the GCR propagation

## 1 A time-dependent model for the GCR propagation

Recent observations of unevolved halo stars have confirmed the surprising linear relationship of the Be and B abundances with \[Fe/H\] (, ). This primary behaviour of Be and B cannot be understood on the basis of the standard model (SM) of LiBeB production in the interstellar medium (ISM) from GCR spallation. This is because in the SM the LiBeB production rates are proportional to the global metallicity of the ISM, so that a secondary behaviour with \[Fe/H\] is expected. However, the SM assumes a GCR flux constant in time and equal to that currently oberved at the Earth. There are many reasons to believe that the GCR flux was different in early epochs. In this contribution we solve the time-dependent propagation equation of CRs in the galaxy in a simple and parametrized way to test whether the SM can be compatible with observations when the hypothesis of the CR flux constancy in time is relaxed.

We consider a general time-dependent equation for the GCR propagation:

$$\frac{F(E,t)}{t}+\frac{F(E,t)}{\mathrm{\Lambda }(E,t)}\frac{(w(E,t)F(E,t))}{E}=q(E,t)$$
(1)   
where $`F(E,t)`$ is the number density of GCR particles per energy interval as a function of energy per nucleon and time, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(E,t)`$ is the loss time-scale including escape, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_e(E,t)`$, and inelastic nuclear interaction, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_n(E,t)`$. $`w(E,t)`$ represents the ionization energy losses in the ISM and finally, $`q(E,t)`$ is the source spectrum of GCRs. We make the following assumptions:

1) The energy and time dependences of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{e,n}`$, $`w`$ and $`q`$ are separable:

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }_{e,n}(E,t)=\mathrm{\Lambda }_1^{e,n}(E)\mathrm{\Lambda }_2^{e,n}(t);w(E,t)=w_1(E)w_2(t);q(E,t)=q_1(E)q_2(t)$$
(2)   
2) We assume that GCRs are produced by supernovae (SN) so that $`q_2(t)=SNR(t)`$, the SN rate, taken from a chemical evolution model which reproduces the current SN rates in the galaxy and the main characteristics of the solar neighbourhood. The source energy spectrum is:

$$q_1(E)=q_0\frac{(E+E_0)}{[E(E+2E_0)]^{1.5}}$$
(3)   
with $`E_0=938`$ MeV. The constant $`q_0`$ is chosen in such a way that we can reproduce the observed current GCR flux at the Earth.

3) $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(E,t)`$ can be split into two parts

$$\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Lambda }(E,t)}=\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Lambda }_e(E,t)}+\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Lambda }_n(E,t)}$$
(4)   
where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_e`$ represents the escape time-scale from the galaxy, and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_n`$ is the loss time-scale against inelastic nuclear interaction. The energy dependence of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_e`$ is taken from  and that of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_n`$ from  assuming a gas density of 1 cm<sup>-3</sup>.

4) The energy losses due to ionization in the ISM have been considered according to .

5) The time-dependence of the ionization losses and of the inelastic nuclear interactions can be plausibly caused by temporal changes in the gas density. The time-dependence of the escape time-scale is more difficult to understand. Here we treat it as a free parameter. For both we assume, for the sake of simplicity, exponential functions:

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }_2^e(t)=\mathrm{exp}(t/\tau _{esc});\mathrm{\Lambda }_2^n(t)=\mathrm{exp}(t/\tau _{gas});w_2(t)=\mathrm{exp}(t/\tau _{gas})$$
(5)   
where $`\tau _{gas}`$ is the characteristic e-folding time of gas exhaustion in the galaxy and $`\tau _{esc}`$ is the characteristic time-scale for variations of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_e`$. We assume that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(E,t)`$ was higher in the past, during the halo collapse (t$`2`$ Gyr).

## 2 The Solution

Eq. (1) can be solved using the method of characteristics. The solution can be simplified considerably if $`\tau _{gas},\tau _{esc}10^7`$ yr. Plausible values for $`\tau _{gas}`$ and $`\tau _{esc}`$ are longer than $`10^7`$ yr, so in that case the solution is

$`F(E,t)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{w_1(E)w_2(t)}}{\displaystyle _E^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑E_0q_1(E_0)q_2\left(t\tau _{loss}(E_0,t)\right)`$ (6)   
$`\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _E^{E_0}}{\displaystyle \frac{dE^{}}{w_1(E^{})\mathrm{\Lambda }_1^e(E^{})\mathrm{\Lambda }_2^e(t)\mathrm{\Lambda }_1^n(E^{})}}\right)`$   
where $`\tau _{loss}(E^{},t)`$ is the ionization energy loss time-scale calculated as:

$$\tau _{loss}(E^{},t)=_E^E^{}𝑑E^{\prime \prime }\frac{1}{w_1(E^{\prime \prime })w_2(t)}$$
(7)   
Then, the rate of accumulation of LiBeB in the ISM is calculated in the usual way (see ). We have considered the following cases:

Case 1: The energy dependence of the GCR source spectrum is given by Eq. (3) with $`q_2(t)`$ equal to the SN rate evolution. The remaining parameters are constant in time.

Case 2: Case 1 plus $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_2(t)`$ from Eq. (5) with $`\tau _{esc}=0.5`$ Gyr during the first 2 Gyr of galactic evolution and $`\tau _{esc}=\mathrm{}`$ afterwards (i.e no time variation of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$). This means that the CR escape time-scale at $`t=0`$ was a factor $`500`$ higher than now.

## 3 Results and conclusions

Figures 1 and 2 show the calculated time-dependent GCR fluxes as well as the corresponding LiBeB evolution with \[Fe/H\]. The results are:

Case 1: The flux is higher in the past and decreases slowly with time in the whole energy range. This higher flux implies a larger LiBeB production in the past than the SM model, although, this is still not enough to reproduce the observations.

Case 2: The flux in the past is also higher and the spectrum is flatter at energies E$`100`$ MeV/n. In consequence the LiBeB production is even higher at early epochs than in Case 1. Note that the predicted Be evolution is nearly in agreement with the observations.

On the other hand, the effect of considering the temporal evolution of the gas content in the galaxy is not very important for the LiBeB production. In this case the flux and spectrum are modified in a complex way depending on the value of $`\tau _{gas}`$ and the interplay between $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_e`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_n`$. Our results show that variations of the GCR flux in time have to be considered to study the early production of LiBeB by spallation in the ISM. A higher flux and a flatter CR spectrum in the past are able to improve the agreement between the predictions of the (modified) SM with observations. This is evident for Be and B. For Li, however, another important source of production is still required. A higher flux in the past can be achieved by taking into account the temporal evolution of the GCR sources, which is naturally explained by the temporal variation of the SN rate, or by assuming that the escape time-scale $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{esc}`$ was higher in the past. The later assumption can improve the agreement between data and model considerably. However, it still requires a more solid theoretical justification ().