paper

Beaming and rapid variability of high-energy radiation from relativistic pair plasma reconnection

arXiv:1205.3210 · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/754/2/L33

Abstract

We report on the first study of the angular distribution of energetic particles and radiation generated in relativistic collisionless electron-positron pair plasma reconnection, using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. We discover a strong anisotropy of the particles accelerated by reconnection and the associated strong beaming of their radiation. The focusing of particles and radiation increases with their energy; in this sense, this "kinetic beaming" effect differs fundamentally from the relativistic Doppler beaming usually invoked in high-energy astrophysics, in which all photons are focused and boosted achromatically. We also present, for the first time, the modeling of the synchrotron emission as seen by an external observer during the reconnection process. The expected lightcurves comprise several bright symmetric sub-flares emitted by the energetic beam of particles sweeping across the line of sight intermittently, and exhibit super-fast time variability as short as about one tenth of the system light-crossing time. The concentration of the energetic particles into compact regions inside magnetic islands and particle anisotropy explain the rapid variability. This radiative signature of reconnection can account for the brightness and variability of the gamma-ray flares in the Crab Nebula and in blazars.

14 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

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