Particle acceleration and relativistic shocks
Astrophysics
2009-10-31 v1
Abstract
Observations of both gamma-ray burst sources and certain classes of active galaxy indicate the presence of relativistic shock waves and require the production of high energy particles to explain their emission. In this paper we review the basic theory of shock waves in relativistic hydrodynamics and magneto-hydrodynamics, emphasising the astrophysically interesting cases. This is followed by an overview of the theory of particle acceleration at such shocks. We summarise the applications to the astrophysics of relativistic jets and fireball models of gamma-ray-bursts.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9905069,
title = {Particle acceleration and relativistic shocks},
author = {J. G. Kirk and P. Duffy},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9905069},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
43 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics as a topical review