Speaker
Description
In this talk I introduce a new model for the mechanisms of cosmic ray transport in starburst galaxies. These galaxies are distinguished from galaxies such as the Milky Way by the overwhelming dominance of neutral molecular material that is subject to intense ion-neutral damping. This has profound consequences for cosmic ray propagation, producing a transport regime quite unlike that prevalent in the largely-ionised gas through which cosmic rays travel in the Milky Way. I show that a model accounting for the starburst regime can explain a number of otherwise puzzling features in the gamma-ray spectra of starbursts, in particular the observed break in spectral slope at ~1 TeV now detected in NGC 253 and M82. I then discuss further tests of the model that will become possible in the CTA era.
