Effects of Cosmic Ray Ion Species on Galactic Nonthermal Filaments

The Galactic Center hosts a collection of synchrotron-emitting filaments that extend for tens of parsecs perpendicular to the Galactic Plane. These filaments are predominantly controlled by cosmic ray transport, but their origins are unknown. There are two dominant theories we need to distinguish: they are primarily fueled either by pair-plasma jets from pulsar wind nebulae or by cosmic rays accelerated by ambient shocks within the ISM and thus are proton dominated. Our goal is to propagate cosmic rays along these filaments using the open source MHD code Athena++ and vary the cosmic ray ion species, adding in terms to account for differing energy losses and gains. By fitting our simulations with observations of the non-thermal filaments, we aim to determine their cosmic ray ion content, which can help determine their source. Understanding this process will deepen our theories of how these filaments can affect or are affected by broader galactic dynamics near the Galactic Center.