No Arabic abstract
Determination of the magnetic field strength in the interstellar medium is one of the most complex tasks of contemporary astrophysics. We can only estimate the order of magnitude of the magnetic field strength by using a few very limited methods. Besides Zeeman effect and Faraday rotation, the equipartition or the minimum-energy calculation is a widespread method for estimating magnetic field strength and energy contained in the magnetic field and cosmic ray particles by using only the radio synchrotron emission. Despite of its approximate character, it remains a useful tool, especially when there is no other data about the magnetic field in a source. In this paper we give a modified calculation which we think is more appropriate for estimating magnetic field strengths and energetics in supernova remnants (SNRs). Finally, we present calculated estimates of the magnetic field strengths for all Galactic SNRs for which the necessary observational data are available. The web application for calculation of the magnetic field strength of SNRs is available at http://poincare.matf.bg.ac.rs/~arbo/eqp/.
The equipartition or minimum-energy calculation is a well-known procedure for estimating magnetic field strength and total energy in the magnetic field and cosmic ray particles by using only the radio synchrotron emission. In one of our previous papers we have offered a modified equipartition calculation for supernova remnants (SNRs) with spectral indices 0.5<alpha <1. Here we extend the analysis to SNRs with alpha =0.5 and alpha =1.
Relations between radio surface brightness ($Sigma$) and diameter ($D$) of supernova remnants (SNRs) are important in astronomy. In this paper, following the work Duric & Seaquist (1986) at adiabatic phase, we carefully investigate shell-type supernova remnants at radiative phase, and obtain theoretical $Sigma$-$D$ relation at radiative phase of shell-type supernova remnants at 1 GHz. By using these theoretical $Sigma$-$D$ relations at adiabatic phase and radiative phase, we also roughly determine phases of some supernova remnant from observation data.
The origin of cosmic rays holds still many mysteries hundred years after they were first discovered. Supernova remnants have for long been the most likely sources of Galactic cosmic rays. I discuss here some recent evidence that suggests that supernova remnants can indeed efficiently accelerate cosmic rays. For this conference devoted to the Astronomical Institute Utrecht I put the emphasis on work that was done in my group, but placed in a broader context: efficient cosmic-ray acceleration and the im- plications for cosmic-ray escape, synchrotron radiation and the evidence for magnetic- field amplification, potential X-ray synchrotron emission from cosmic-ray precursors, and I conclude with the implications of cosmic-ray escape for a Type Ia remnant like Tycho and a core-collapse remnant like Cas A.
The present article investigates magnetic amplification in the upstream medium of SNR blast wave through both resonant and non-resonant regimes of the streaming instability. It aims at a better understanding of the diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) efficiency considering various relaxation processes of the magnetic fluctuations in the downstream medium. Multi-wavelength radiative signatures coming from the SNR shock wave are used in order to put to the test the different downstream turbulence relaxation models. We confirm the result of Parizot et al (2006) that the maximum CR energies should not go well beyond PeV energies in young SNRs where X-ray filaments are observed. In order to match observational data, we derive an upper limit on the magnetic field amplitude insuring that stochastic particle reacceleration remain inefficient. Considering then, various magnetic relaxation processes, we present two necessary conditions to achieve efficient acceleration and X-ray filaments in SNRs: 1/the turbulence must fulfil the inequality $2-beta-delta_{rm d} ge 0$ where $beta$ is the turbulence spectral index while $delta_d$ is the relaxation length energy power-law index; 2/the typical relaxation length has to be of the order the X-ray rim size. We identify that Alvenic/fast magnetosonic mode damping does fulfil all conditions while non-linear Kolmogorov damping does not. Confronting previous relaxation processes to observational data, we deduct that among our SNR sample, the older ones (SN1006 & G347.3-0.5) fail to verify all conditions which means that their X-ray filaments are likely controlled by radiative losses. The younger SNRs, Cas A, Tycho and Kepler, do pass all tests and we infer that the downstream magnetic field amplitude is lying in the range of 200-300 $mu$ Gauss.
Cosmic rays are particles (mostly protons) accelerated to relativistic speeds. Despite wide agreement that supernova remnants (SNRs) are the sources of galactic cosmic rays, unequivocal evidence for the acceleration of protons in these objects is still lacking. When accelerated protons encounter interstellar material, they produce neutral pions, which in turn decay into gamma rays. This offers a compelling way to detect the acceleration sites of protons. The identification of pion-decay gamma rays has been difficult because high-energy electrons also produce gamma rays via bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering. We detected the characteristic pion-decay feature in the gamma-ray spectra of two SNRs, IC 443 and W44, with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This detection provides direct evidence that cosmic-ray protons are accelerated in SNRs.