Line and Continuum Emission from the Galactic Center. III. Origin of 6.4 keV Line Emission from Molecular Clouds in the Galactic Center

Vladimir Dogiel, Kwong-Sang Cheng, Dmitrii Chernyshov, Aya Bamba, Atsushi Ichimura, Hajime Inoue, Chung-Ming Ko, Motohide Kokubun, Yoshitomo Maeda, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Noriko Y. Yamasaki

Published 2009-05-19Version 1

We analyze the 6.4 keV line and continuum emission from the molecular cloud Sgr B2 and the source HESS J1745-303, which is supposed to be a complex of molecular gas. From the HESS results it follows that Sgr A is a source of high energy protons, which penetrate into molecular clouds producing there a TeV gamma-ray flux. We present arguments that Sgr A may also produce a flux of subrelativistic protons which generate the 6.4 keV line and bremsstrahlung continuum emission from the clouds.