Cosmic-ray acceleration and escape from supernova remnants
Abstract
Galactic cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration to the knee in the spectrum at a few PeV is only possible if the magnetic field ahead of a supernova remnant (SNR) shock is strongly amplified by CRs escaping the SNR. A model formulated in terms of the electric charge carried by escaping CRs predicts the maximum CR energy and the energy spectrum of CRs released into the surrounding medium. We find that historical SNRs such as Cas A, Tycho and Kepler may be expanding too slowly to accelerate CRs to the knee at the present time.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- May 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stt179
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1301.7264
- Bibcode:
- 2013MNRAS.431..415B
- Keywords:
-
- acceleration of particles;
- magnetic fields;
- shock waves;
- cosmic rays;
- ISM: supernova remnants;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 17 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society