The Origin of the High-Energy Activity at the Galactic Center

Abstract

Recent X-ray and gamma-ray observations of the Galactic center region by the ASCA and CGRO/EGRET instruments show evidence of 2--10 keV and $>1$ GeV continuum emission as well as 6.7 and 6.4 keV line emission from the inner $0.2^\circ$ of the Galactic center. This region is also known to host a bright nonthermal radio continuum source Sgr A East and a dense molecular cloud M--0.02--0.07 known as the 50 km s$^{-1}$ cloud. The oval-shaped nonthermal Sgr A East is physically interacting with M--0.02--0.07 at the Galactic center. A comparison between the distribution of ionized, synchrotron and neutral gas suggests a self-consistent interpretation of the high-energy activity at the Galactic center. Our preliminary analysis of the data suggest a shock model of cosmic ray acceleration at the site of the interaction to explain the enhanced GeV $\gamma$-ray emission. We also address a number of issues related to the spatial correlation of the diffuse radio and X-ray emitting gas as well as to the origin of the fluorescent 6.4 and 6.7 keV emission at the Galactic center.