Expected Enhancement of the Primary Antiproton Flux at the Solar Minimum

Abstract

We calculate the solar-modulated energy spectra of cosmic-ray antiprotons ($\bar{p}$'s) from two candidate primary sources, i.e., evaporating primordial black holes and the annihilation of neutralino dark matter, as well as for the secondary $\bar{p}$'s produced by cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar gas. A large enhancement toward the solar minimum phase emerges in the low-energy flux of $\bar{p}$'s from the primary sources, whereas the flux of the secondary $\bar{p}$'s, falling steeply below 2 GeV, does not significantly vary. This enables us to conduct a very sensitive search for primary $\bar{p}$ components by precisely measuring the $\bar{p}$ spectrum, especially at low energies, throughout the forthcoming solar minimum phase.

19 pages, 4 PostScript figures