Deciphering the Origin of the GeV–TeV Gamma-Ray Emission from SS 433

Abstract

Abstract We investigate hadronic and leptonic scenarios for the GeV–TeV gamma-ray emission from jets of the microquasar SS 433. The emission region of the TeV photons coincides with the X-ray knots, where electrons are efficiently accelerated. On the other hand, the optical high-density filaments are also located close to the X-ray knots, which may support a hadronic scenario. We calculate multiwavelength photon spectra of the extended jet region by solving the transport equations for the electrons and protons. We find that both hadronic and leptonic models can account for the observational data, including the latest Fermi Large Area Telescope result. The hadronic scenarios predict higher-energy photons than the leptonic scenarios, and future observations such as with the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the Large High-Altitude Air Shower Observatory, and the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory may distinguish between these scenarios and unravel the emission mechanism of GeV–TeV gamma rays. Based on our hadronic scenario, the analogy between microquasars and radio galaxies implies that the X-ray knot region of the radio-galaxy jets may accelerate heavy nuclei up to ultrahigh energies.