Effects of Neutral Hydrogen on Cosmic-Ray Precursors in Supernova Remnant Shock Waves

Raymond, J. C.; Vink, Jacco; Helder, E. A.; Laat, A. de

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/731/1/l14

Cited by 31 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(78 reference statements)

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“…A first effort to include neutrals in the shock acceleration theory was made by Wagner et al (2009) using a two-fluid model to treat ions and CRs, but neglecting the dynamical role of neutrals. A different model was A&A 562, A141 (2014) proposed by Raymond et al (2011): here momentum and energy transfer between ions and neutrals are included, but both the CR spectrum and the profile of the CR-precursor were assumed a priori rather than calculated selfconsistently. Blasi et al (2012) proposed a semianalytical kinetic calculation that returns the distribution function of neutral hydrogen atoms in the absence of accelerated particles and all thermodynamical properties of the ion plasma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmic ray acceleration and Balmer emission from RCW 86 (G315.4 – 2.3)

Morlino

Blasi

Bandiera

et al. 2014

A&A

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Context. Observation of Balmer lines from the region around the forward shock of supernova remnants (SNRs) may provide valuable information on the shock dynamics and the efficiency of particle acceleration at the shock. Aims. We calculated the Balmer line emission and the shape of the broad Balmer line for parameter values suitable for SNR RCW 86 (G315.4 -2.3) as a function of the cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration efficiency and of the level of thermal equilibration between electrons and protons behind the shock. This calculation aims at using the width of the broad Balmer-line emission to infer the CR acceleration efficiency in this remnant. Methods. We used the recently developed non linear theory of diffusive shock-acceleration in the presence of neutrals. The semianalytical approach we developed includes a description of magnetic field amplification as due to resonant streaming instability, the dynamical reaction of accelerated particles and the turbulent magnetic field on the shock, and all channels of interaction between neutral hydrogen atoms and background ions that are relevant for the shock dynamics. Results. We derived the CR acceleration efficiency in the SNR RCW 86 from the Balmer emission. Since our calculation used recent measurements of the shock proper motion, the results depend on the assumed distance to Earth. For a distance of 2 kpc the measured width of the broad Balmer line is compatible with the absence of CR acceleration. For a distance of 2.5 kpc, which is a widely used value in current literature, a CR acceleration efficiency of 5-30% is obtained, depending upon the electron-ion equilibration and the ionization fraction upstream of the shock. By combining information on Balmer emission with the measured value of the downstream electron temperature, we constrain the CR acceleration efficiency to be ∼20%.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmic ray acceleration and Balmer emission from RCW 86 (G315.4 – 2.3)

Morlino

Blasi

Bandiera

et al. 2014

A&A

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“…The first attempt to model this scenario was done by [12] using a two-fluid approach to treat ions and CRs but neglecting the dynamical role of neutrals. A different model was proposed by [13] where momentum and energy transfer between ions and neutrals is included, but the profile of the CRprecursor is assumed a-priori . Both works concluded that the observed width of 30-50 km s −1 can be explained using a low CR acceleration efficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using optical lines to study particle acceleration at supernova remnants

Morlino

2014

Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements

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The shocks of several young supernova remnants (SNR) are often associated with very thin optical filaments dominated by Balmer emission resulting from charge-exchange and collisional excitation between neutral Hydrogen from the interstellar medium and shocked protons and electrons. Optical lines are a direct probe of the conditions at the shock, in particular the width of the narrow and broad components reflect the temperature upstream and downstream of the shock, respectively. When the shock accelerate efficiently non-thermal particles, the shock structure changes producing anomalous Balmer lines and it is possible to use their line shape and their spatial profile to check the efficiency of SNR shocks in accelerating cosmic rays. Here we illustrate the kinetic theory of shock acceleration in presence of neutrals with some applications to young SNRs. We show that in three cases (RCW 86, SNR 0509-67.5 and Tycho) anomalous Balmer lines can be explained assuming that a fraction of ∼ 10% of the total shock kinetic energy is converted into not thermal particles, while in one single case, the northwestern part of SN 1006, there is no evidence of efficient acceleration.

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“…The sensitivity of the broad-to-narrow ratio to preshock neutral fraction and cosmic ray acceleration efficiency is yet to be studied theoretically in full detail. The Balmer models show that a moderate efficiency of cosmic ray acceleration, CR ∼0.2, is necessary for widening the narrow component line profile and collisionally exciting Hα in the cosmic ray precursor (Vink et al 2010;Raymond et al 2011). The broad component width and broad-to-narrow flux ratio, formerly a diagnostic of shock speed, neutral fraction and electron-ion equilibration, have now been shown to depend on CR as well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integral Field Spectroscopy of Balmer-dominated Shocks in the Magellanic Cloud Supernova Remnant N103B

Ghavamian

Seitenzahl

Vogt

et al. 2017

ApJ

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We present results of integral field spectroscopy of Balmer-dominated shocks in the LMC supernova remnant (SNR) N103B, carried out using the Wide Field Integral Spectrograph (WiFeS ) on the 2.3 m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Existing X-ray studies of N103B have indicated a Type Ia supernova origin. Radiative shock emission from clumpy material surrounding the SNR may result from interaction of the forward shock with relic stellar wind material, possibly implicating a thermonuclear explosion in a single-degenerate binary system. The recently discovered Balmerdominated shocks mark the impact of the forward shock with low density, partially neutral CSM gas, and form a partial shell encircling clumps of material exhibiting radiative shocks. The WiFeS spectra of N103B reveal broad Hα emission having a width as high as 2350 km s −1 along the northern rim, and both Hα and Hβ broad profiles having width around 1300 km s −1 along the southern rim. Fits to the Hα line profiles indicate that in addition to the usual broad and narrow emission components, a third component of intermediate width exists in these Balmer-dominated shocks, ranging from around 125 km s −1 up to 225 km s −1 in width. This is consistent with predictions of recent Balmerdominated shock models, which predict that an intermediate-width component will be generated in a fast neutral precursor. We derive a Sedov age of approximately 685±20 years for N103B from the Balmer-dominated spectra, consistent with the young age of 380 -860 years estimated from light echo studies.

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Effects of Neutral Hydrogen on Cosmic-Ray Precursors in Supernova Remnant Shock Waves

Cited by 31 publications

References 49 publications

Cosmic ray acceleration and Balmer emission from RCW 86 (G315.4 – 2.3)

Cosmic ray acceleration and Balmer emission from RCW 86 (G315.4 – 2.3)

Using optical lines to study particle acceleration at supernova remnants

Integral Field Spectroscopy of Balmer-dominated Shocks in the Magellanic Cloud Supernova Remnant N103B

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