English

Systematic Study of Acceleration Efficiency in Young Supernova Remnants with Nonthermal X-ray Observations

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2021-02-18 v1

Abstract

Cutoff energy in a synchrotron radiation spectrum of a supernova remnant (SNR) contains a key parameter of ongoing particle acceleration. We systematically analyze 11 young SNRs, including all historical SNRs, to measure the cutoff energy, thus shedding light on the nature of particle acceleration at the early stage of SNR evolution. The nonthermal (synchrotron) dominated spectra in filament-like outer rims are selectively extracted and used for spectral fitting because our model assumes that accelerated electrons are concentrated in the vicinity of the shock front due to synchrotron cooling. The cutoff energy parameter (ε0\varepsilon_0) and shock speed (vshv_{\rm sh}) are related as ε0vsh2η1 \varepsilon_0 \propto v_{\rm sh}^2 \eta^{-1} with a Bohm factor of η\eta. Five SNRs provide us with spatially resolved ε0\varepsilon_0-vshv_{\rm sh} plots across the remnants, indicating a variety of particle acceleration. With all SNRs considered together, the systematic tendency of η\eta clarifies a correlation between η\eta and an age of tt (or an expansion parameter of mm) as ηt0.4\eta \propto t^{-0.4} (ηm4\eta \propto m^{4}). This might be interpreted as the magnetic field becomes more turbulent and self-generated, as particles are accelerated at a greater rate with time. The maximum energy achieved in SNRs can be higher if we consider the newly observed time dependence on η\eta.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2012.01047,
  title  = {Systematic Study of Acceleration Efficiency in Young Supernova Remnants with Nonthermal X-ray Observations},
  author = {Naomi Tsuji and Yasunobu Uchiyama and Dmitry Khangulyan and Felix Aharonian},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.01047},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

26 pages, 7 figure, 6 tables; Accepted for publication in ApJ