Electron Acceleration in the Crab Nebula

Gwenael Giacinti; John G. Kirk

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arXiv · 1909.06230

Electron Acceleration in the Crab Nebula

Gwenael Giacinti·John G. Kirk

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Abstract

We study electron and positron acceleration at the termination shock of a striped pulsar wind. Drift motion along the shock surface keeps either electrons or positrons -but not both, close to the equatorial plane of the pulsar, where they are accelerated by the first-order Fermi process. Their energy spectrum is a power law, and both the X-ray flux and photon index of the Crab Nebula, as measured by NuSTAR, can be reproduced for sufficiently large downstream turbulence levels. The implication that one sign of charge is preferentially accelerated in pulsar wind nebulae is potentially important for the interpretation of the positron fraction in cosmic-rays.

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Gwenael Giacinti, John G. Kirk. 2019-09-13. Electron Acceleration in the Crab Nebula. https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.06230

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