Compton degradation of gamma-ray line emission from radioactive isotopes in the classical nova V2491 Cygni

Abstract

To account for the non-thermal emission from the classical nova V2491 Cygni, we perform a series of numerical calculations of radiative transfer of γ-ray photons from the radioactive isotope ${}^{22}$Na in the matter ejected from a white dwarf. Using a simple wind model for the dynamical evolution of the ejecta and a monte-carlo code, we calculate radiative transfer of the γ-ray photons in the ejecta. Repeated scattering of the γ-ray photons by electrons in the ejecta, i.e., Compton degradation, results in an extremely flat spectrum in the hard X-ray range, which successfully reproduces the observed spectrum of the X-ray emission from V2491 Cygni. The amount of the isotope ${}^{22}$Na synthesized in the ejecta is required to be 3\times 10^{-5} M_\odot to account for the flux of the hard X-ray emission. Our model indicates that the ejecta become transparent to the γ-ray photons within several tens days. Using the results, we briefly discuss the detectability of the γ-ray line emission by the {\it INTEGRAL} gamma-ray observatory and the {\it Fermi} Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in ApJL

References in corpus (4)

• Optical and Supersoft X-ray Light Curve Models of Classical Nova V2491 Cygni: A New Clue to the Secondary Maximum
• Direct measurements of 22Na(p,g)23Mg resonances and consequences for 22Na production in classical novae
• Non-thermal photon production via bulk comptonization at supernova shock breakout
• Proton Threshold States in the 22Na(p,gamma)23Mg Reaction and Astrophysical Implications

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