arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Yves A. Gallant.
We present an upper limit of galactic diffuse gamma-ray flux, measured with the GAMMA experiment at energy about 175 TeV. The results were obtained using selection of muon poor extensive air showers at mountain level (700 g/cm^2, Mt. Aragats, Armenia) for 5 GeV muon energy threshold. An upper limit for the differential flux at energy E=175+/-25 TeV is equal to (5.8-7.0)x10^-12 [erg m^2 s sr]^-1 for 95% confidence level.
The H.E.S.S. array of imaging Cherenkov telescopes has discovered a number of previously unknown gamma-ray sources in the very high energy (VHE) domain above 100 GeV. The good angular resolution of H.E.S.S. (~0.1 degree per event), as well as its sensitivity (a few percent of the Crab Nebula flux) and wide 5-degree field of view, allow a much better constrained search for counterparts in comparison to previous instruments. In several cases, the association of the VHE sources revealed by H.E.S.S. with pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) is supported by a combination of positional and morphological evidence, multi-wavelength observations, and plausible PWN model parameters. These include the plerions in the composite supernova remnants G 0.9+0.1 and MSH 15-52, the recently discovered Vela X nebula, two new sources in the Kookaburra complex, and the association of HESS J1825-137 with PSR B1823-13. The properties of these better-established associations are reviewed. A number of other sources discovered by H.E.S.S. are located near high spin-down power pulsars, but the evidence for association is less complete. These possible associations are also discussed, in the context of the available multi-wavelength data and plausible PWN scenarios.
I review the current status of Fermi acceleration theory at relativistic shocks. I first discuss the relativistic shock jump conditions, then describe the non-relativistic Fermi mechanism and the differences introduced by relativistic flows. I present numerical calculations of the accelerated particle spectrum, and examine the maximum energy attainable by this process. I briefly consider the minimum energy for Fermi acceleration, and a possible electron pre-acceleration mechanism.
We reconsider the rejuvenation mechanism as proposed by Shull, Fesen, & Saken (1989). These authors suggest that an active pulsar can catch up with, and rejuvenate the shell of the associated supernova remnant. The morphology of the SNRs G5.4-1.2 and CTB80 seem to confirm this rejuvenation mechanism. The spindown energy is deposited by the pulsar as a relativistic pulsar wind, and has a sufficient power to explain the observed radio emission observed in these remnants. Shull et al. (1989) did {\it not} explain the observed lengthscales of the rejuvenated parts of the SNR shell. therefore one needs to consider the diffusive transport of the injected electrons by the pulsar wind. We propose to apply a diffusion mechanism as introduced by Jokipii (1987), which makes a distinction between diffusion along the magnetic field lines and perpendicular to the magnetic field lines, parameterised by the gyro factor $η$. We show that one has to assume a high value for the gyro factor, $η\simeq 10^3-10^4$, i.e. diffusion of the electrons along the magnetic field line is much faster then perpendicular to the magnetic field line, in order for the rejuvenation mechanism to work on the observed lengthscales.
We review recent theoretical developments on pulsar winds, their nebulae and relativistic shock acceleration, and show how they illuminate unsolved problems in plerion spectra, in particular the multiple spectral breaks in the Crab and the low-frequency breaks of plerions such as G 21.5-0.9 and 3C 58. Recent work on Fermi acceleration theory at relativistic shocks shows that a particle spectral index of 2.2-2.3, compatible with the X-ray spectra of plerions, results under a wide variety of assumptions. If pulsar winds contain ions as well as electrons and positrons, the mechanism of Hoshino et al. (1992), which yields harder spectra, would operate at lower energies and may explain the flat radio spectral indices of plerions. This scenario implies wind parameters in the Crab compatible with the pulsar wind acceleration model of Lyubarsky & Kirk (2001). Recent hydrodynamical simulations of plerion evolution inside SNR blast waves demonstrate that the passage of the reverse shock rapidly compresses the plerion. Using a simple isobaric model, we investigate the influence of the resulting magnetic field compression and decrease in shock radius on the evolution of the plerion spectrum. We suggest that the passage of the reverse shock may explain the low-frequency breaks in 3C 58 and G 21.5-0.9, as well as the increase in 3C 58's radio flux.
We consider the acceleration of charged particles near ultra-relativistic shocks, with Lorentz factor Gamma_s >> 1. We present simulations of the acceleration process and compare these with results from semi-analytical calculations. We show that the spectrum that results from acceleration near ultra-relativistic shocks is a power law, N(E) \propto E^{-s}, with a nearly universal value s \approx 2.2 - 2.3 for the slope of this power law. We confirm that the ultra-relativistic equivalent of Fermi acceleration at a shock differs from its non-relativistic counterpart by the occurence of large anisotropies in the distribution of the accelerated particles near the shock. In the rest frame of the upstream fluid, particles can only outrun the shock when their direction of motion lies within a small loss cone of opening angle theta_c \approx 1/Gamma_s around the shock normal. We also show that all physically plausible deflection or scattering mechanisms can change the upstream flight direction of relativistic particles originating from downstream by only a small amount: Delta theta ~ 1/Gamma_s. This limits the energy change per shock crossing cycle to Delta E ~ E, except for the first cycle where particles originate upstream. In that case the upstream energy is boosted by a factor ~ Gamma_s^2 for those particles that are scattered back across the shock into the upstream region.
The cosmic-ray spectrum up to the knee ($E\sim 10^{15}$ eV) is attributed to acceleration processes taking place at the blastwaves which bound supernova remnants. Theoretical predictions give a similar estimate for the maximum energy which can be reached at supernova remnant shocks by particle acceleration. Electrons with energies of the order $\sim 10^{15}$ eV should give a nonthermal X-ray component in young supernova remnants. Recent observations of SN1006 and G347.3-0.5 confirm this prediction. We present a method which uses hydrodynamical simulations to describe the evolution of a young remnant. These results are combined with an algorithm which simultaneously calculates the associated particle acceleration. We use the test particle approximation, which means that the back-reaction on the dynamics of the remnant by the energetic particles is neglected. We present synchrotron maps in the X-ray domain, and present spectra of the energies of the electrons in the supernova remnant. Some of our results can be compared directly with earlier semi-analytical work on this subject by Reynolds [1].
We adapt and modify the eigenfunction method of computing the power-law spectrum of particles accelerated at a relativistic shock front via the first-order Fermi process (Kirk, J.G., Schneider, P., Astrophysical Journal 315, 425 (1987)) to apply to shocks of arbitrarily high Lorentz factor. The power-law index of accelerated particles undergoing isotropic small-angle scattering at an ultrarelativistic, unmagnetized shock is found to be s=4.23 +/- 0.2 (where s=d\ln f/ d\ln p, with f the Lorentz-invariant phase-space density and p the momentum), in agreement with the results of Monte-Carlo simulations. We present results for shocks in plasmas with different equations of state and for Lorentz factors ranging from 5 to infinity.
We examine Fermi-type acceleration at relativistic shocks, and distinguish between the initial boost of the first shock crossing cycle, where the energy gain per particle can be very large, and the Fermi process proper with repeated shock crossings, in which the typical energy gain is of order unity. We calculate by means of numerical simulations the spectrum and angular distribution of particles accelerated by this Fermi process, in particular in the case where particle dynamics can be approximated as small-angle scattering. We show that synchrotron emission from electrons or positrons accelerated by this process can account remarkably well for the observed power-law spectra of GRB afterglows and Crab-like supernova remnants. In the context of a decelerating relativistic fireball, we calculate the maximum particle energy attainable by acceleration at the external blast wave, and discuss the minimum energy for this acceleration process and its consequences for the observed spectrum.
We discuss the intergalactic propagation of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energies E \geq 10^{18.5} eV. We consider the propagation of UHECRs under the influence of the energy-dependent deflection by a weak random magnetic field in the intergalactic medium and energy losses by photo-pion and pair production. We calculate arrival spectra taking full account of the kinematics of photo-pion production and the Poisson statistics of the photo-pion interaction rate. We give estimates for the deflection of UHECRs from the line of sight to the source, time delays with respect to photons from the same source, arrival spectra and source statistics. These estimates are confirmed by numerical simulations of the propagation in energy evolution of UHECRs. These simulations demonstrate that the often-used continuous approximation in the treatment of energy losses due to photo-pion production on the cosmic microwave background (CMWB) cannot be justified for UHECRs. We discuss the implications of these results for the observed flux of particles above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min cut-off in two of the scenarios that have been proposed for the production of these particles: continuous production in the large shock waves associated with powerful radio galaxies, or possibly large-scale structure formation, and the impulsive production at relativistic blast waves associated with cosmological gamma-ray bursts.
We consider the acceleration of charged particles at the ultra-relativistic shocks, with Lorentz factors Γ_s >> 1 relative to the upstream medium, arising in relativistic fireball models of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We show that for Fermi-type shock acceleration, particles initially isotropic in the upstream medium can gain a factor of order Γ_s^2 in energy in the first shock crossing cycle, but that the energy gain factor for subsequent shock crossing cycles is only of order 2, because for realistic deflection processes particles do not have time to re-isotropise upstream before recrossing the shock. We evaluate the maximum energy attainable and the efficiency of this process, and show that for a GRB fireball expanding into a typical interstellar medium, these exclude the production of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), with energies in the range 10^{18.5} - 10^{20.5} eV, by the blast wave. We propose, however, that in the context of neutron star binaries as the progenitors of GRBs, relativistic ions from the pulsar wind bubbles produced by these systems could be accelerated by the blast wave. We show that if the known binary pulsars are typical, the maximum energy, efficiency, and spectrum in this case can account for the observed population of UHECRs.