paper

Radio and X-ray Profiles in Supernova Remnants Undergoing Efficient Cosmic Ray Production

arXiv:astro-ph/0507031 · doi:10.1086/444449

Abstract

The strong shocks in young supernova remnants (SNRs) should accelerate cosmic rays (CRs) and no doubt exists that \rel electrons are produced in SNRs. However, direct and convincing evidence that SNRs produce CR nuclei has not yet been obtained and may, in fact, be long in coming if current gamma-ray observatories do not see an unambiguous pion-decay feature. Nevertheless, the lack of an observed pion-decay feature does not necessarily mean that CR ions are not abundantly produced since ions do not radiate efficiently. If CR ions are produced efficiently by diffusive shock acceleration (DSA), their presence will modify the hydrodynamics of the SNR and produce morphological effects which can be clearly seen in radiation produced by electrons. We describe in some detail our CR-hydro model, which couples DSA with the remnant hydrodynamics, and the synchrotron emission expected for two distinct parameter sets representing type Ia and type II supernovae. Several morphological features emerge in radial profiles, including the forward shock precursor, which are observable with current X-ray observatories and which should definitively show if young SNRs produce CR ions efficiently or not. For the specific case of SN 1006, we conclude, as have others, that the extremely short X-ray scale heights observed near the outer shock argue convincingly for the efficient production of CR ions.

20 pages, 13 figures, accepted in ApJ June 2005

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