Related papers: Particle acceleration mechanisms
A numerical simulation model of the injection and cooling of nonthermal particles energized by shocks formed in merging clusters of galaxies is used to fit radio and X-ray data observed from the Coma cluster of galaxies. The results are…
The ubiquity of high-energy tails in the charged particle velocity distribution functions observed in space plasmas suggests the existence of an underlying process responsible for taking a fraction of the charged particle population out of…
Recently, strong AGN outbursts at the centers of galaxy clusters have been found. Using a simple model, we study particle acceleration around a shock excited by an outburst and estimate nonthermal emission from the accelerated particles. We…
High velocity clouds moving toward the disk will reach the Galactic plane and will inevitably collide with the disk. In these collisions a system of two shocks is produced, one propagating through the disk and the other develops within the…
A significant new development in the study of Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) has been the recent discovery by INTEGRAL and RXTE of flat, hard X-ray components in three AXPs. These non-thermal spectral components differ dramatically from the…
The theory of particle acceleration at shock fronts is briefly reviewed, with special emphasis on the production of the particles responsible for the nonthermal emission from blazars. The flat radio/IR spectra of these sources cannot be…
Using a three dimensional relativistic particle-in-cell code we have performed numerical experiments of plasma shells colliding at relativistic velocities. Such scenarios are found in many astrophysical objects e.g. the relativistic outflow…
We consider the role of centrifugal force on the energetics of electrons moving along the magnetic field lines of spinning active galactic nuclei. We find the energy gained by charged particles against inverse Compton scattering and/…
We examine whether nonthermal protons energized during a cluster merger are simultaneously responsible for the Coma cluster's diffuse radio flux (via secondary decay) and the departure of its intra-cluster medium (ICM) from a thermal…
GRB spectra appear non-thermal, but recent observations of a few bursts with Fermi GBM have confirmed previous indications from BATSE of the presence of an underlying thermal component. Photospheric emission is indeed expected when the…
By applying a method of virtual quanta we derive formulae for relativistic non-thermal bremsstrahlung radiation from relativistic electrons as well as from protons and heavier particles with power-law momentum distribution $N(p)dp = k…
In evolved supernova remnants (SNRs) interacting with molecular clouds, such as IC 443, W44, and 3C391, a highly inhomogeneous structure consisting of a forward shock of moderate Mach number, a cooling layer, a dense radiative shell and an…
Particles are accelerated to very high, non-thermal energies during explosive energy-release phenomena in space, solar, and astrophysical plasma environments. In the case of solar flares, it has been established that magnetic reconnection…
A review of the main issues in the field of particle acceleration in Supernova Remnants is provided in the context of future X-ray observations with Simbol-X. After a summary of the nonthermal acceleration mechanisms at work, I briefly…
Molecular clouds are expected to emit non-thermal radiation due to cosmic ray interactions in the dense magnetized gas. Such emission is amplified if a cloud is located close to an accelerator of cosmic rays and if cosmic rays can leave the…
Context. There is a population of runaway stars that move at extremely high speeds with respect to their surroundings. The fast motion and the stellar wind of these stars, plus the wind-medium interaction, can lead to particle acceleration…
The environs of supermassive black holes are among the universe's most extreme phenomena. Understanding the physical processes occurring in the vicinity of black holes may provide the key to answer a number of fundamental astrophysical…
Powerful non-thermal emission has been detected coming from relativistic collimated outflows launched in the vicinity of black holes of a very wide range of masses, from few to $\sim 10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$. At different scales along the…
Cosmological hydrodynamic simulations have demonstrated that shock waves could be produced in the intergalactic medium by supersonic flow motions during the course of hierarchical clustering of the large-scale-structure in the Universe.…
Previously, we showed that, owing to effects arising from quantum electrodynamics (QED), magnetohydrodynamic fast modes of sufficient strength will break down to form electron-positron pairs while traversing the magnetospheres of strongly…