Related papers: X- and Gamma-Ray Line Emission Processes
Modelling the emission properties of compact high energy sources such as X-ray binaries, AGN or gamma-ray bursts represents a complex problem. Contributions of numerous processes participate non linearly to produce the observed spectra:…
This work discusses the possibility of inducing the emission of gamma radiation from nuclear isomers by two-photon transitions, in the more general context of the problem of the amplification of gamma radiation.
We briefly review the main channels of gamma ray and neutrino production due to the propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays. We show how the observations of these secondary radiations are of paramount importance in tagging mass…
Emission lines in X-ray spectra of clusters of galaxies reveal the presence of heavy elements in the diffuse hot plasma (the Intra Cluster Medium, or ICM) in virial equilibrium in the dark matter potential well. The relatively simple…
The rate of ionization by cosmic rays in interstellar gas directly associated with gamma-ray emitting supernova remnants is for the first time calculated to be several orders of magnitude larger than the Galactic average. Analysis of…
The origin of the high energy emission (X-rays and gamma-rays) from black holes is still a matter of debate. We present new evidence that hard X-ray emission in the low/hard state may not be dominated by thermal Comptonization. We present…
"Diffuse" gamma rays consist of several components: truly diffuse emission from the interstellar medium, the extragalactic background, whose origin is not firmly established yet, and the contribution from unresolved and faint Galactic point…
We have developed a model which aims to reproduce observational data of many kinds related to cosmic-ray origin and propagation: direct measurements of nuclei, antiprotons, electrons and positrons, gamma-rays, and synchrotron radiation. Our…
Clusters of galaxies and the large scale filaments that connect neighboring clusters are expected to be sites of acceleration of charged particles and sources of non-thermal radiation from radio frequencies to gamma rays. Gamma rays are…
Pulsars are factories of relativistic electrons and positrons that propagate away from the pulsar, permeating later our Galaxy. The acceleration and propagation of these particles are a matter of intense debate. In the last few years, we…
Type-I X-ray bursts arise from unstable thermonuclear burning of accreted fuel on the surface of neutron stars. In this chapter we review the fundamental physics of the burning processes, and summarise the observational, numerical, and…
The origin of the X-ray emission from the central region of the Galaxy has remained a mystery, despite extensive study over the past two decades. A fundamental question is the relative contribution of the point-source and diffuse components…
Supernovae provide fascinating opportunities to study various particles and their interactions. Among these there are neutrinos, axions, and other light weakly interacting particles, which play a significant role in our understanding of…
Presently there are several classes of detected gamma-ray extragalatic sources. They are mostly associated to active galactic nuclei (AGN) and (at soft gamma rays) to gamma-ray bursts (GRB), but not only. Active galactic nuclei consist of…
We present some recent highlights and prospects for the study of hot astrophysical plasmas. Hot plasmas can be studied primarily through their X-ray emission and absorption. Most astrophysical objects, from solar system objects to the…
The last decade has been dense with new developments in the search for the sources of Galactic cosmic rays. Some of these developments have confirmed the tight connection between cosmic rays and supernovae in our Galaxy, through the…
Many X-ray observations of GigaHertz Peaked Spectrum and Compact Steep Spectrum sources have been made with Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton Observatory over the last few years. The X-ray spectra contribute the important information…
X-ray emission from cool stars is an important tracer for stellar activity. The X-ray luminosity reflects different levels of activity and covers four orders of magnitude in stars of spectral types M-F. Low spectral resolution provided by…
We show that interactions of fast particles with the boundary shell of the local hot bubble could make an important contribution to the 0.5-1 keV diffuse X-ray background observed with ROSAT. The bulk of these nonthermal X-rays are due to…
This white paper is motivated by open questions in star formation, which can be uniquely addressed by high resolution X-ray imaging and require an X-ray observatory with large collecting area along good spectral resolution. A complete…