Photoerosion and the abundances of Li-7, Be-9, B-10 and B-11 near active galactic nuclei

Photoerosion, a shifting of nuclear abundances from higher to lower mass which results from interactions between high-energy photons and nuclei, is shown to be capable of producing copius amounts of ⁷Li, ⁹Be, ¹0B, and¹1B in some environments, most notably those associated with an active galactic nucleus. If even a small amount of these nuclides could be admixed with the rest of the galaxy, or with the galactic halo, it would greatly enhance their abundances therein. The abundance signatures of these nuclides are different from those resulting from some other processes which have been suggested for their production, thereby allowing discrimination of the products of photoerosion from at least some of the other potential production processes.