Particle acceleration in the colliding winds binary WR140
Astrophysics
2007-05-23 v1
Abstract
Massive WR+O star systems produce high-temperature, shock-heated plasma where the wind of the WR star and that of its binary companion collide - the wind-collision region (WCR). The WCR is a source of thermal (e.g. hard X-rays) and non-thermal (e.g. synchrotron) emission, the latter arising from electrons and ions accelerated to relativistic energies. These colliding wind binaries provide an excellent laboratory for the study of particle acceleration at higher mass, photon and magnetic energy densities than exist in SNRs. Recent models of the non-thermal emission from WR 140 have provided insight into this process.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0703618,
title = {Particle acceleration in the colliding winds binary WR140},
author = {J. M. Pittard and S. M. Dougherty},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0703618},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
To appear in the proceedings of "Massive Stars: Fundamental Parameters and Circumstellar Interactions"