Related papers: Maximally-hard spectra from diffusive shock-accele…
The presence of neutral hydrogen in the shock proximity changes the structure of the shock and affects the spectra of particles accelerated through the first-order Fermi mechanism. This phenomenon has profound implications for the…
The evolution of a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) depends on properties of the progenitor star, supernova, and surrounding environment. As some of these quantities are difficult to measure, reproducing the observed dynamical properties and…
For pulsars similar to the one in the Crab Nebula, most of the energy input to the surrounding wind nebula occurs on a timescale of less than 1000 years; during this time, the nebula expands into freely expanding supernova ejecta. On a…
We present preliminary results from a systematic spectral study of pulsars and their wind nebulae using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The superb spatial resolution of Chandra allows us to differentiate the compact object's spectrum from…
Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) represent the most numerous population of TeV sources in our Galaxy. These sources, some of which emit very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays, are believed to be related to the young and energetic pulsars that power…
Recent observations of the supernova remnant W44 by the \emph{Fermi} spacecraft observatory strongly support the idea that the bulk of galactic cosmic rays is accelerated in such remnants by a Fermi mechanism, also known as diffusive shock…
We present a new pulsar wind nebula (PWN) model solving both advection and diffusion of non-thermal particles in a self-consistent way to satisfy the momentum and energy conservation laws. Assuming spherically symmetric (1--D) steady…
Pulsars and their pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) are unique laboratories for extreme astrophysical processes. This dissertation combines Fermi-LAT observations with a time-dependent leptonic PWN model (TIDE) to explore their gamma-ray emission.…
Pulsar Wind Nebulae are the astrophysical sources that host the most relativistic shocks in Nature and the only Galactic sources in which we have direct evidence of PeV particles. These facts make them very interesting from the point of…
The observed radial profiles of the X-ray emission from Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) have been claimed to conflict with the standard one-dimensional (1-D) steady model. However, the 1-D model has not been tested to reproduce both the…
The origin of cosmic rays in our Galaxy remains a subject of active debate. While supernova remnant shocks are often invoked as the sites of acceleration, it is now widely accepted that the difficulties of such sources in reaching PeV…
We report the results of a 50 ks Chandra observation of the recently discovered radio object G141.2+5.0, presumed to be a pulsar-wind nebula. We find a moderately bright unresolved X-ray source which we designate CXOU J033712.8 615302…
The flux density spectra of radio pulsars are known to be steep and, to first order, described by a power-law relationship of the form S_{\nu} \propto \nu^{\alpha}, where S_{\nu} is the flux density at some frequency \nu and \alpha is the…
Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) have been established as the most populous class of TeV gamma-ray emitters. Since launch, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT)identified five high-energy (100MeV <E< 100 GeV) gamma-ray sources as PWNe, and…
When applied to the blast wave formed by the explosion of a massive star as a supernova (SN), the theory of diffusive particle acceleration at shock fronts predicts a very high energy density in cosmic rays. Almost immediately after…
Diffusive shock acceleration at collisionless shocks remains the most likely process for accelerating particles in a variety of astrophysical sources. While the standard prediction for strong shocks is that the spectrum of accelerated…
We present the result of a Chandra ACIS observation of the pulsar PSR B1853+01 and its associated pulsar wind nebula (PWN), embedded within the supernova remnant W44. A hard band ACIS map cleanly distinguishes the PWN from the thermal…
Energy spectra of particles accelerated by the first-order Fermi mechanism are investigated at ultrarelativistic shock waves, outside the range of Lorentz factors considered previously. For particle transport near the shock a numerical…
We report on Australia Telescope Compact Array observations of the ~10^5 yr old pulsar PSR B0906-49. In an image containing only off-pulse emission, we find a weak, slightly extended source coincident with the pulsar's position, which we…
First-order Fermi acceleration processes at ultrarelativistic shocks are studied with Monte Carlo simulations. The accelerated particle spectra are obtained by integrating the exact particle trajectories in a turbulent magnetic field near…