Unified classical and quantum radiation mechanism for ultrarelativistic electrons in curved and inhomogeneous magnetic fields

We analyse the general radiation emission mechanism from a charged particle moving in a curved inhomogeneous magnetic field. The consideration of the gradient makes the vacuum magnetic field compatible with the Maxwell equations, and adds a non-trivial term to the transverse drift velocity, and, consequently, to the general radiation spectrum. To obtain the radiation spectrum in the classical domain a general expression for the spectral distribution and characteristic frequency of an electron in arbitrary motion is derived, by using Schwinger's method. The radiation patterns of the ultrarelativistic electron are represented in terms of the acceleration of the particle. The same results can be obtained by considering that the motion of the electron can be formally described as an evolution caused by magnetic and electric forces. By defining an effective electromagnetic field, which combines the magnetic field with the fictitious electric field associated to the curvature and drift motion, one can obtain all the physical characteristics of the radiation by replacing the constant magnetic field with the effective field. The power, angular distribution and spectral distribution of all three components (synchrotron, curvature and gradient) of the radiation are considered, in both the classical and the quantum domain, within the framework of this unified formalism. In the quantum domain the proposed approach allows the study of the effects of the inhomogeneities and curvature of the magnetic field on the radiative transition rates of electrons between low-lying Landau levels and the ground state.     

Statistical Properties of 6.7 GHz Methanol Maser Sources

We present a statistical analysis of 482 6.7 GHz methanol maser sources from the available literature, on their maser emission and the characteristics of their associated infrared sources. On the color-color diagram, more than 70% of the objects fall within a very small region (0.57 ≤ [25 - 12] ≤ 1.30 and 1.30 ≤[60 - 12] ≤ 2.50). This suggests that 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission occurs only within a very short evolutionary phase during the earliest stage of star formation. The velocity ranges of the masers belong to two main groups: one from 1 to 10 km s^-1, and one from about 11 to 20 km s^-1. These velocity ranges indicate that the masers are probably associated with both disks and outflows. The correlations between the maser and infrared flux densities, and between the maser and infrared luminosities, suggest that far-infrared radiation is a possible pumping mechanism for the masers which most probably originate from some outer molecular envelopes or disks.     

Pulsar radio emission

Radio emission by pulsars is calculated from first principles. In an almost current-free magnetosphere, the two charged components (of the unsteadily escaping pair plasma) have different (and varying) bulk Lorentz factors. Curvature radiation emitted by the more energetic component is thus locally coherent, (so-called antenna mechanism). Strong enough seed signals cause the relativistically streaming charges to enhance their radiation, via an induced drift that can largely exceed the curvature drift. This amplification mechanism is similar to - but different from - that of a maser; we call it a MAIDER. Maximal amplification occurs at an (emission) altitude where the two components have sufficiently separated in energy though not yet separated too strongly in space.     

The electron–cyclotron maser for astrophysical application

The electron–cyclotron maser is a process that generates coherent radiation from plasma. In the last two decades, it has gained increasing attention as a dominant mechanism of producing high-power radiation in natural high-temperature magnetized plasmas. Originally proposed as a somewhat exotic idea and subsequently applied to include non-relativistic plasmas, the electron–cyclotron maser was considered as an alternative to turbulent though coherent wave–wave interaction which results in radio emission. However, when it was recognized that weak relativistic corrections had to be taken into account in the radiation process, the importance of the electron–cyclotron maser rose to the recognition it deserves. Here we review the theory and application of the electron–cyclotron maser to the directly accessible plasmas in our immediate terrestrial and planetary environments. In situ access to the radiating plasmas has turned out to be crucial in identifying the conditions under which the electron–cyclotron maser mechanism is working. Under extreme astrophysical conditions, radiation from plasmas may provide a major energy loss; however, for generating the powerful radiation in which the electron–cyclotron maser mechanism is capable, the plasma must be in a state where release of susceptible amounts of energy in the form of radiation is favorable. Such conditions are realized when the plasma is unable to digest the available free energy that is imposed from outside and stored in its particle distribution. The lack of dissipative processes is a common property of collisionless plasmas. When, in addition, the plasma density becomes so low that the amount of free energy per particle is large, direct emission becomes favorable. This can be expressed as negative absorption of the plasma which, like in conventional masers, leads to coherent emission even though no quantum correlations are involved. The physical basis of this formal analogy between a quantum maser and the electron–cyclotron maser is that in the electron–cyclotron maser the free-space radiation modes can be amplified directly. Several models have been proposed for such a process. The most famous one is the so-called loss-cone maser. However, as argued in this review, the loss-cone maser is rather inefficient. Available in situ measurements indicate that the loss-cone maser plays only a minor role. Instead, the main source for any strong electron–cyclotron maser is found in the presence of a magnetic-field-aligned electric potential drop which has several effects: (1) it dilutes the local plasma to such an extent that the plasma enters the regime in which the electron–cyclotron maser becomes effective; (2) it generates energetic relativistic electron beams and field-aligned currents; (3) it deforms, together with the magnetic mirror force, the electron distribution function, thereby mimicking a high energy level sufficiently far above the Maxwellian ground state of an equilibrium plasma; (4) it favors emission in the free-space RX mode in a direction roughly perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field; (5) this emission is the most intense, since it implies the coherent resonant contribution of a maximum number of electrons in the distribution function to the radiation (i.e., to the generation of negative absorption); (6) it generates a large number of electron holes via the two-stream instability, and ion holes via the current-driven ion-acoustic instability which manifest themselves as subtle fine structures moving across the radiation spectrum and being typical for the electron–cyclotron maser emission process. These fine structures can thus be taken as the ultimate identifier of the electron–cyclotron maser. The auroral kilometric radiation of Earth is taken here as the paradigm for other manifestations of intense radio emissions such as the radiation from other planets in the solar system, from exoplanets, the Sun and other astrophysical objects.     

Propagation and absorption of cyclotron maser radiation in solar microwave spike bursts

It has been argued that the loss-cone-driven electron cyclotron maser instability can account for the properties of millisecond microwave spike bursts observed during some solar flares. However, as it propagates outward from the corona, maser radiation undergoes gyroresonance absorption when its frequency is a harmonic of the local electron-cyclotron frequency. Existing analytical models using slab geometries predict that this absorption should be sufficiently strong to prevent the radiation from being seen at the observed levels, except under highly restrictive conditions or for unrealistic plasma parameters. A more comprehensive analysis is presented here to determine if and when maser radiation can escape to produce microwave spike bursts. This analysis employs numerical raytracing and incorporates propagation and absorption of fundamental maser emission in a realistic model of a coronal flux loop. It is found that ranges of physical conditions do exist under which maser radiation can escape to an observer and that these conditions are much more limiting for fundamental emission in the extraordinary ()-mode than in the ordinary (o)-mode. Detailed investigation implies that escaping radiation in the -mode is highly directional and chiefly observable toward the center of the solar disk, while escapingo-mode radiation is found to emerge from the corona over a much wider range of directions, with some cases corresponding to radiation observable near the solar limb.     

The models for radio emission from pulsars–The outstanding issues

The theory of pulsar radio emission is reviewed critically, emphasizing reasons why there is no single, widely-accepted emission mechanism. The uncertainties in our understanding of how the magnetosphere is populated with plasma preclude predicting the properties of the emission from first principles. Some important observational features are incorporated into virtually all the proposed emission mechanisms, and other observational features are either controversial or fail to provide criteria that clearly favor one mechanism over others. It is suggested that the criterion that the emission mechanism apply to millisecond, fast young, and slow pulsars implies that it is insensitive to the magnetic field strength. It is argued that coherent emission processes in all astrophysical and space plasmas consist of emission from many localized, transient subsources, that any theory requires both an emission mechanism and a statistical theory for the subsource, and, that this aspect of coherent emission has been largely ignored in treatments of pulsar radio emission. Several specific proposed emission mechanisms are discussed critically: coherent curvature emission by bunches, relativistic plasma emission, maser curvature emission, cyclotron instability and free electron maser emission. It is suggested that some form of relativistic plasma emission is the most plausible candidate although one form of maser curvature emission and free electron maser emission are not ruled out. Propagation effects are discussed, emphasizing the interpretation of jumps between orthogonal polarizations.     

Simulating H2O Maser Emission in the Mass Outflows from Evolved Stars

The combination of a time-dependent spherically symmetric hydrodynamic model of stellar atmosphere pulsation and a radiation transport code, which incorporates maser saturation theory, enabled us to synthesise maps and spectra of H₂O maser emission from the circumstellar envelopes of long period variable stars. The synthetic maps and spectra compare favourably with observed 22, 321 and 325 GHz H₂O maser emission. As is observed in H₂O maser regions the peak emission occurs between 3–8 stellar radii from the star. The calculated H₂O maser regions are in conditions of n_H2 = 10⁶ − 10⁸ cm⁻³, assuming a fractional abundance of 10⁻⁴; kinetic temperatures of 550–3000 K; dust ensemble temperatures of 500–1200 K and an accelerating velocity field. The IR radiation field is explicitly included in the radiation transport model, incorporating the latest absorption efficiency data for silicates from Draine. We reproduce the features seen in high angular resolution MERLIN spectral line datacubes. This shows that a mass outflow model which extends the photosphere using pulsations and incorporates radiation pressure on silicate based dust particles can produce the observed data on small (10-mas) angular scales. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Determining the period of the long-period activity of the water-vapor maser in W75N

We present the results of our study of the H₂O maser emission from the source W75N, which is associated with a star-forming region, between November 1994 and March 1999. The observations were carried out with the RT-22 radio telescope of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory (Lebedev Physical Institute). The maser emission in 1994–1999 can be represented as a superposition of flares of separate components with a duration from two to six months, which occurred mainly in the radial-velocity range 8–17.5 km s^?1. We detected a regular drift of the velocity centroid from 13 to 9 km s^?1 and an abrupt change in its velocity from 9 to 5 km s^?1, which took place at the initial stage of maser activity. Based on the variability of the total H₂O flux in all years of our observations of W75N (from December 1979 through March 1999), we conclude that the long-period variability of the water-vapor maser emission has a period of ～11.5 years. We give arguments that this variability is mainly associated with the most compact group of maser spots, whose positions coincide with the position of the continuum source VLA 2.     

Investigation of the OH and H2O maser emission from the semiregular variable HU puppis

We present the results of our monitoring of the semiregular variable HU Pup in the 1612, 1665, and 1667-MHz OH lines and the 22.235-GHz H₂O line. The maser emission in the 1612-MHz satellite line has been detected from this source for the first time. Strong variability of the emission has been observed in all three OH lines, including the radial-velocity drift of the two most intense features. Zeeman splitting components have been found. The longitudinal magnetic field strength has been estimated to be 1.0, 1.6 and 2.7, 3.2 mG in the 1665 and 1667-MHz lines, respectively. Our OH and H₂O observations have revealed fairly stable structures in the masing region and have allowed us to estimate the variability period of the maser emission (～1.5 yr). A possible model of the maser source in HU Pup is discussed.     

Near—Infrared Imaging Observations of the Orion A—W Star Forming Region

We carried out near-infrared imaging observations of the Ori A-W region using the Italian 1.5m TIRGO infrared telescope at Gornergrat. A group of infrared objects is visible on the K band image, including an IRAS source (IRS 1). From its IRAS flux density the IRAS luminosity is derived to be 45L⊙, which shows that IRS 1 is a low-mass protostar. By superimposing the position of the VLA H2O maser on the K image, we can identify the less evolved object IRS 1 as the excitation source of the H2O maser, within a projected distance of 470AU. This would be evidence that the maser effect is associated with the youngest phase of stellar evolution. The first probable HH object candidate in the Ori A-W region is discovered from the H2 S(1) 1-0 observation. Comparing the position of the H2O maser with the direction of the molecular hydrogen emission in the region, we suggest that the observed H2O maser could be tracing the circumstellar disk of IRS 1.     

Propagation and absorption of electron-cyclotron maser radiation during solar flares

The electron-cyclotron maser is believed to be the source of microwave spike bursts often observed during solar and stellar flares. Partial absorption of this radiation as it propagates through the corona can produce plasma heating and soft X-ray emission over an extended region. In this paper, the propagation and absorption of the maser radiation during solar flares are examined through linear theory and electro-magnetic particle simulations. It is shown using linear theory that strong absorption of the radiation should occur as it propagates towards the second harmonic layer where the magnetic field is half as strong as in the emission region. Only radiation propagating nearly parallel to the magnetic field in a low-temperature plasma may be able to escape under certain, limited conditions. Finite temperature effects can cause radiation propagating nearly perpendicular to the magnetic field to refract, causing enhanced absorption. Particle simulations are then used to evaluate the nonlinear response of the plasma as the maser radiation propagates through the absorption layer. It is shown that some of the maser radiation is able to escape through a process of absorption below the second harmonic of the local gyrofrequency and re-emission above it. The fraction able to escape is much higher than that predicted by linear theory, although the amount of escaping energy is only a small fraction of the incident energy. The bulk of incident energy goes into the perpendicular heating of the ambient electrons, with the rate of energy absorption showing no signs of leveling off during the simulations. This indicates that the absorption layer does not become optically thin after continuous heating by the maser radiation. A few electrons are accelerated to several tens of keVs as a result of the heating.     

Merlin and Puschino Observations of H2o Masers in Outer Galactic SFR S128N

We have imaged H₂O maser emission from the star-forming region S128 at milli-arcsec resolution using MERLIN, to complement 20 years of monitoring data from the Puschino radio telescope. The drift velocities of the masers and the velocity and location of a new maser region add depth to the model of two colliding CO clouds triggering collapse. Some H₂O masers appear to originate directly from this shock front. The brightest maser appears typical of a YSO jet and remains unsaturated close to peak intensity. The distribution of maser clumps has a fractal dimension 0.4; combined with analysis of drift velocity variations this suggests that the masers trace the dissipation of supersonic turbulence. The spatial distribution of velocities shows that this is in parts more structured than the Kolmogorov cascade.     

Amplification by Stimulated Emission in Rydberg Matter Clusters as the Source of Intense Maser Lines in Interstellar Space

The detailed processes giving maser line radiation from various molecules in space are not well understood, as can be seen from many recent detailed studies of maser line emission with high spatial and velocity resolution, and with polarization measurements. We now propose an improved maser mechanism based on amplification of the original molecular line emission by stimulated emission in Rydberg Matter (RM) clouds in HII regions, containing clusters H _N and (H₂) _N . This mechanism will amplify the molecular lines, depending on the position, velocity, cluster size and state of excitation of the clusters in the RM cloud. RM will only support certain frequencies, corresponding to rotational transitions of the clusters. The bond lengths in the RM clusters are known within 1% from radio frequency emission measurements in the laboratory, and it is now shown that all the commonly studied maser lines agree well with stimulated emission transitions in several types of RM clusters simultaneously. This may explain the strongly varying intensities of neighboring or related maser lines, an important effect that is not well understood previously. It is also pointed out that the magnetic field due to RM is of the same order of magnitude as observed from the Zeeman splitting in maser lines; thus, the molecules that are the original sources of the lines may be embedded in the RM clouds, for example in dense HII regions that are likely to be RM regions.     

Nature of microstructure in pulsar radio emission

We present a model for microstructure in pulsar radio emission. We propose that micropulses result from alteration of the radio wave generation region by nearly transverse drift waves propagating across the pulsar magnetic field and encircling the bundle of the open magnetic field lines. It is demonstrated that such waves can modify the curvature of the field lines significantly. This, in turn, affects strongly fulfilment of the resonance conditions necessary for the excitation of radio waves. The time-scale of micropulses is therefore determined by the wavelength of the drift waves. The main features of the microstructure are naturally explained within the framework of this model.     

The motion of charged particles in a strong electromagnetic field and curvature radiation

The features of the relativistic charge particle motion and emission due to the radiative slamping in the strong electromagnetic fields are investigated. It is shown that the radiative force responsible for curvature radiation is associated with the particle drift in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. The adiabatic trajectory is obtained for the relativistic particle, moving in a strong static electron-magnetic field, particle energy being determined by the balance of the work of the electric field and the energy losses through curvature radiation.     

A search for 4750- and 4765-MHz OH masers in southern star-forming regions

We have used the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to make a sensitive  (5 σ ≃100 mJy)  search for maser emission from the 4765-MHz ²Π_1/2   F =1→0  transition of OH. 55 star formation regions were searched and maser emission with a peak flux density in excess of 100 mJy was detected toward 14 sites, with 10 of these being new discoveries. In addition we observed the 4750-MHz ²Π_1/2   F =1→1  transition towards a sample of star formation regions known to contain 1720-MHz OH masers, detecting marginal maser emission from G348.550−0.979. If confirmed this would be only the second maser discovered from this transition.
The occurrence of 4765-MHz OH maser emission accompanying 1720-MHz OH masers in a small number of well-studied star formation regions has led to a general perception in the literature that the two transitions favour similar physical conditions. Our search has found that the presence of the excited-state 6035-MHz OH transition is a much better predictor of 4765-MHz OH maser emission from the same region than 1720-MHz OH maser emission is. Combining our results with those of previous high-resolution observations of other OH transitions we have examined the published theoretical models of OH masers and find that none of them predicts any conditions in which the 1665-, 6035- and 4765-MHz transitions are inverted simultaneously.     

The OH Maser Line Receiving System for the Urumqi 25m Radio Telescope

A maser spectral line system is newly implemented on the Urumqi 25m Radio Telescope. The system consists mainly of a cooling receiver and a 4096 channels digital correlation spectrometer. The frequency resolution of the spectrometer at the maximum signal bandwidth of 80MHz is 19.5kHz. After careful calibrations observation at the 1665 MHz OH maser emission was made towards a number of sources, including W49N and W75N. The observed results demonstrate that the digital correlation spectrometer is suitable for astronomical spectral line observations.     

Synchro－Curvature Radiation──弯曲磁场中一种新的、更普遍的辐射

Ｓｙｎｃｈｒｏ－ＣｕｒｖａｔｕｒｅＲａｄｉａｔｉｏｎ──弯曲磁场中一种新的、更普遍的辐射张家铝（中国科技大学天体物理中心合肥２３００２６）郑广生（香港大学物理系）关键词同步辐射，曲率辐射，脉冲星磁层在脉冲星的辐射模型中，同步辐射和曲率辐射占有极其重要...     

Emission of solar radio spikes by beam-driven cyclotron resonance

The generation of bright solar radio spikes by the beam-driven cyclotron resonance maser mechanism (the resonant interaction of an electron beam with a circularly polarized wave in a background plasma under the action of a guide magnetic field) is studied. Nonlinear effects such as radiation damping and gyrophase bunching on electron energy and momentum are responsible for the enhanced direct energy conversion between the beam and the coherent wave. Factors such as beam energy spread and pitch angle distribution are analyzed. The intense maser radiation is carried at the source by the circularly polarized wave propagating along the magnetic field. Due to the magnetic field curvature, the outgoing maser radiation converts into extraordinary and ordinary modes. The extraordinary mode suffers from plasma absorption at the second harmonic layer, whereas the ordinary mode is likely to get through.     

Analysis of spike emission data at 2545/2645 MHz in the peak year of the 22nd solar cycle

We briefly discuss the observed features including the high flux density, short duration, narrow emission band, fast frequency drift, quasi-periodic oscillation and fast variation of polarized components, of 51 spike emission events observed at 2545/2645 MHz in the solar activity peak year, 1991 January–December, and carry out correlation analysis between these events and optical flares, magnetic field intensity and configuration of flare regions, and sunspot evolution types of active regions. In view of the fact that the observed and statistical characteristics of the spike emissions are very different from those of known types of solar radio burst and known solar radio components, we think that the spike emission in the peak years is probably a new type of radio burst excited by electron cyclotron maser instability under wave-particle resonance, or a new solar radio component.