Radial diffusion in Jovian inner belt

Radial diffusion of equatorially mirroring particles of solar wind origin in Jovian inner magnetosphere is reviewed. Using the Pioneer 10 and 11 data on plasma and magnetic field parameters of Jupiter, phase-space density profile of the inner belt (i.e., 1 = L 5) has been derived.     

The spectra of extended radio sources with a nonuniform magnetic field and hard injection of particles

On the basis of an analytical solution of the diffusion-type kinetic equation for electrons, electron distributions and radiation spectra have been found which result from a hard injection of particles in sources of the core halo type, characterized by spatially nonuniform magnetic fields and diffusion parameters. Such radio sources are shown to possess nonlinear radiation spectra containing universal (=0.5) and diffusion-controlled power-law sections shaped by synchrotron losses, spatial diffusion and radiation conditions of the electrons. The diffusion-controlled sections can be described by spectral indices 0.5<1, if the magnetic field decreases towards the source edge, and by <0.5 where the magnetic field increases.     

Kinetic Alfvén waves in extended radio sources

We study a model of extended radio sources (ERS), in particular, extragalactic jets and radio lobes, which are inhomogeneous and where noncompressive Alfvén and surface Alfvén waves (and not shocks and magnetosonic waves) are primarily excited. We assume that a negligible thermal population exists (i.e., the ion density at the low-energy cut-off of the power law distribution is greater than the ion density of the thermal population, if present). Due to internal instabilities and/or the interaction of the ERS with the ambient medium, surface Alfvén waves (SAW) are created. We show that even very small amplitude SAW are mode converted to kinetic Alfvén waves (KAW) which produce large moving accelerating potentials , parallel to the magnetic field. Neglecting nonlinear perturbations, and for typical physical parameters of ERS, we obtaine1 MeV. Wesuggest that these potentials are important in acceleration (e.g., injection energy) and reacceleration of electrons in ERS. We show that energy losses by synchrotron radiation can be compensated by reacceleration by KAW. The relation between KAW acceleration, and previously studied cyclotron-resonance acceleration by Alfvén waves, is discussed.     

Mechanisms of optical,X-ray andγ-radiation from Crab pulsar

The synchrotron mechanism of radiation from the Crab pulsar has been investigated on the assumption that the mechanism acts in a source moving with relativistic velocity round a neutron star. A detailed matching has been made of the theoretical spectra of synchrotron radiation from relativistic electrons with the results of measurements of the radiation flux from the Crab pulsar in the infrared, optical and X-ray ranges. The parameters of the radiating region (intensity of the magnetic field, source dimensions, density and lifetime of radiating electrons) have been found. They are expressed through the ratio of the energy density of the magnetic field in the source to that of radiating electrons. The level of Compton-radiation in this region is estimated. Possible values of at which the level will correspond to the available results of measurements of the-radiation flux from the Crab pulsar are given. An estimate is presented for the surface magnetic field of the neutron star which does not contradict those obtained from considerations of the magnetic flux conservation when compressing the object up to the neutron star dimensions.     

Thermalization of solar wind

Three kinetic equations describing the linear and non-linear wave-particle interaction for an anisotropic solar wind plasma have been developed. These equations have been solved numerically to find the variation inT /T with respect to time, whereT andT are the perpendicular and parallel temperatures with respect to the ambient magnetic field of the solar wind. For wave energy greater than a critical value (strong turbulence), non-linear wave-particle interactions are important but do not lead to thermalization. On the other hand, weak nonlinear interactions tend to increaseT /T , but make only a negligible contribution in the quantitative sense. Thus, only the linear wave-particle interaction remains as the significant contributer to the increase ofT /T .     

Formation of universal and diffusion regions of non-linear spectra of relativistic electrons in spatially limited sources

It is demonstrated that in the case of hard injection of relativistic electrons accompanied by the joint action of synchrotron (Compton) losses and energy-dependent spatial diffusion, a spectrum with breaks is formed containing universal (with index =2) and diffusion regions, both independent of the injection spectrum. The effect from non-linearity of the electron spectrum is considered in averaged electromagnetic spectra for various geometries of sources (sphere, disk, arm). It is shown that a universal region (with index =0.5) can occur in the radiation spectrum.     

Neutrino reactions in strong magnetic field

We present the energy losses due to several neutrinos processes: (1) synchrotron neutrinos, (2) pair annihilation neutrinos, (3) plasmon neutrinos, and (4) photoneutrinos in the presence of a superstrong magnetic field. Numerical results are tabulated and illustrated for several values of densities and temperatures. In the low density regime (10⁷ g cm^–3) the presence of a magnetic field decreases the luminosity, whereas the opposite is true at higher densities. This last effect is however almost entirely due to the existence of a new process the synchrotron neutrinos that disappear whenH0. Even though the overall effect can only be quantitatively ascertain after a complete cooling computation is performed, one should however expect a much lower temperature for neutron star surface than the one computed in theH=0 case.     

The prominence radiation theory

The present work is a review of papers related to the theory of prominence radiation. Special attention is paid to stationary equations and the theory of radiation diffusion in the lines and continua of hydrogen, helium and metals.We conclude that prominences are low-temperature formations T _e 7000 K, of low density 10¹² particles per cm³, n _e 10¹¹ cm^–3, effective thickness 10⁹ cm, and that the chemical composition of prominences and that of the Sun's atmosphere are the same. The prominence radiation in the lines of hydrogen, helium and metals is due mainly to quasiresonance scattering of the photospheric radiation.     

Compton scattering in sources with synchrotron reabsorption

By considering the consecutive effects of synchrotron reabsorption, Compton scattering and other kinds of energy losses of relativistic electrons, it may be possibile to form a universal distribution of electrons in the region of reabsorption (synchrotron reactor). This will be either a power law with a power index of the energy spectrumn _r=3–5, or a relativistic Maxwell distribution with an electron temperatureT _e=4T _b(1+), where is the ratio of Compton (or other losses) to synchrotron losses, andT _bis the brightness temperature of the radiation. Since the total energy losses of electrons in the reactor is equal to zero, this ensures the continuous existence and accumulation of relativistic electrons in the region of reabsorption and their associated hard scattered radiation. Multiple Compton scattering produces a specific stepped power distribution of scattered radiation by which we can identify the reactor. In the nuclei of quasars W _Hand, therefore,n _r=3; hence the spectral index of scattered radiation in the corresponding ranges (optical, UV, X- and -ray) is .Consideration of other kinds of losses and gains of energy by electrons can lead to the dependencen =3–5(E) — where (E) may have either positive or negative values—which, in turn, leads to the frequency dependence of the spectral index of scattered radiation = 1 – (), |()| < 1, |(E)| < 1.Within the framework of the model being considered, the physical parameters of the nucleus of quasar 3C 273 are calculated.     

Limiting wave growth for electron cyclotron waves

Quasilinear weak diffusion theory presented by Kennel and Petschek (1966) and advanced by Schulz and Davidson (1988) is further extended to put an upper limit on the growth of electron cyclotron waves. It is shown that the power gain of whistler mode electron cyclotron wave (other than plasmaspheric hiss) can not exceed 40 dB. Inside the outer radiation belt, the upper limit of temporal wave growth is 350 rad s^–1 and normalised wave growth is 0.017. The limits are independent of the kind of the electron diffusion and are applicable for on the equator/off the equator locations of wave-particle interactions.     

Resonant interactions of modes in coronal magnetic flux tubes

Nonlinear resonant interactions of different kinds of fast magnetosonic (FMS) waves trapped in the inhomogeneity of a low- plasma density, stretched along a magnetic field (as, for example, in coronal loops) are investigated. A set of equations describing the amplitudes of interactive modes is derived for an arbitrary density profile. The quantitative characteristics of such interactions are found. The decay instability of the wave with highest frequency is possible in the system. If amplitudes of interactive modes have close values, the long-period temporal and spatial oscillations are in the system.For a quantitative illustration, the parabolic approximation of the transverse density profile has been chosen. Dispersion relations of FMS waves trapped in a low- plasma slab with a parabolic transverse density profile are found. The transverse structure of the waves in this case can be expressed through Hermitian polynomials. The interaction of kink and sausage waves is investigated. The sausage wave, with a sufficiently large amplitude, may be unstable with respect to the decay into two kink waves, in particular. The spatial scale of a standing wave structure and the time spectrum of radiation are formed due to the nonlinear interactions of loop modes which contain information about the parameters of the plasma slab.     

The magnetic fields in M31, NGC 7331, NGC 2841, NGC 6946, and our galaxy

A time-independent model for the radial distributions of gas and magnetic field has been applied to the galaxies Milky Way, M31, NGC 7331, and NGC 2841, in order to explain the gaseous ring patterns in spiral galaxies, and to NGC 6946 to see if this model is valid for galaxies without a gaseous ring. The model takes the gas pressure as its input data and solves the MHD equations to calculate the magnetic field responsible for the gas distribution. This field has an azimuthal component only, and can be used to predict synchrotron radio emission. A discussion about the dependence of the synchrotron radiation profiles obtained upon the assumed relationN ₀(,B) for the cosmic-ray density per unit energy as a function of gas density and field strength, is here considered in detail. It is shown that a relation of the typeN ₀/B, which takes into account the loss of energy of the cosmic-relativistic electrons, yields good agreement with the observations.     

A role of cosmic rays in generation of radio and optical radiation by plasma mechanisms

The radiation of ultrarelativistic particles is examined in a quasi-uniform magnetic field superimposed by a wide spectrum of magnetic, electric, and electron density inhomogeneities created in a turbulent plasma. The radiation spectrum from a particle of a given energy is shown to acquire a high-frequency power-law tail with the same spectral index as the index of small-scale turbulence. For a power-law spectrum of ultrarelativistic electrons, dN()/d ~ ^–, with a cut-off at some energy _max, the radiation spectrum consists of a few power-law ranges; the radiation intensity may suffer jumps at frequencies which separate these ranges.In the high-frequency range the spectral index is determined by small-scale magnetic and electric fields. At intermediate frequencies the main contribution comes from the synchrotron radiation in a large-scale field; the radiation spectrum has an index =(–1)/2. The same index may be produced by large-scale Langmuir waves. At lower frequencies the radiation spectrum increases owing to the transition radiation caused by electron density fluctuations; in this case the spectral index is equal to +1–.The possibility of diagnostics of high-frequency cosmic plasma turbulence from radiation of high-energy particles is discussed. It is shown that the proposed theory may explain some features in the spectra of several cosmic objects.     

On the formation of energy spectra in synchrotron sources

The observed energy spectra in synchrotron sources are power laws,N (E)=KE ^–, with the distribution in peaked around 2.5. These are consistent with initially injected spectra with between 1 and 2, subsequently steepened by synchrotron losses. Contrary to the results of Kardashev (1962), it is shown that statistical acceleration when coupled with synchrotron losses lead naturally to the formation of flat stationary spectra with 1. These stationary spectra have bends near the energy at which synchrotron losses balance the energy gains by acceleration. Above this bend the spectrum tends to =2. The time evolution of an initial spectrum towards the stationary spectrum is investigated. It is suggested that the initially flat spectra with 1 to 1.5 observed in some variable sources result from an incomplete approach to the stationary spectrum, and that in sources with constant acceleration spectra with 2 are to be expected.     

Distribution function of relativistic electrons in a strong magnetic field

The motion and radiation of relativistic particles with radiation reaction in a strong magnetic field has been considered. The kinetic equation determining the relaxation of the distribution function with radiation reaction has been investigated. The universal one-dimensional distribution function is found to which any isotropic ultrarelativistic distribution in a strong magnetic field is relaxed. It is of power type ^–3 for ultrarelativistic energies mc ². Estimations are made which indicate that under the pulsar conditions the one-dimensional electron distribution function is likely formed due to radiation losses while for ions the one-dimensionalization is associated with the conservation of the adiabatic invariant.     

A model for solar radio pulsations at short centimetric band

In this paper, the observed solar radio pulsations during the bursts at 9.375 GHz are considered to be excited by some plasma instability. Under the condition of the conservation of energy in the wave-particle interaction, the saturation time of plasma instabilities is inversely proportional to the initial radiation intensity, which may explain why the repetition rate of the pulsations is directly proportional to the radio burst flux at 9.375 GHz as well as 15 GHz and 22 GHz. It is also predicted that the energy released in an individual pulse increases with increasing the flux of radio bursts, the modularity of the pulsations decreases with increasing the flux of radio bursts, these predictions are consistent with the statistical results at 9.375 GHz in different events. The energy density of the non-thermal particles in these events is estimated from the properties of pulsation. For the typical values of the ambient plasma density (10⁹ cm^–3) and the ratio between the nonthermal and ambient electrons (10^–4), the order of magnitude of the energy density and the average energy of the nonthermal electrons is 10^–4 erg/cm³ and 10 kev, respectively. It is interesting that there are two branches in a statistical relation between the repetition rate and the radio burst flux in a special event on March 11–17, 1989, which just corresponds to two different orders of magnitude for the quasi-quantized energy released in these five bursts. This result may be explained by the different ratios between the thermal and the nonthermal radiations.     

Supermassive oblique rotator: Electrodynamics,evolution, observational tests

A detailed theory of high-entropy supermassive oblique rotator is developed on the basis of the results of our previous work on the structure and evolution of supermassive rotating magnetic polytropes. Particular attention is paid to the problem of transformation of rotational energy into observable radiation. It is shown that a rather long duration of the quasi-stationary phase in combination with a considerably high value of magnetic dipole radiationL _md in comparison with that of thermal radiationL _th imposes substantial limitations on the character of the model. This combination is realized in the model of an oblique rotator with a rigid rotation and a poloidal magnetic field. Moreover, the magnetic energy must be comparable, in order of magnitude, with the module of the gravitational energy.The magnitude of the torque acting on the rotator by means of the magnetic field is influenced neither by the external plasma thrown out by the low-frequency radiation pressure, nor by the plasma ejected electrostatically, nor by that flowing out due to rotational instability. For definiteness we assume below that the rotational energy is lost by the rotator in the form of a low-frequency magnetic dipole radiation though many of the conclusions drawn in this paper are also valid for the case when the energy is liberated in some other forms (for example, in magnetohydrodynamic waves).Plasma outflow under rotational instability is considered in detail. This is a pulsating outflow. Near the light cylinder the plasma spreads out and begins to interact intensively with the magnetic dipole radiation. As a result, the particles are accelerated up to relativistic energies. Accelerated electrons radiate by synchrotron mechanism with the radiation maximum in the far infra-red region (Figure 4). Compton scattering of this radiation is in the X-ray and gamma regions. The character of the non-thermal radiation calculated accounts for the essential features of the observable radiation from quasars and active galactic nuclei.A secular variation of the magnetic dipole radiation in the course of evolution of a supermassive oblique rotator (Figure 1) with the account taken of the influence of magnetic dipole losses on the value of the angle between magnetic and rotational axes is discussed in the vacuum approximation substantiated in Section 3. For a wide interval of initial values of this angle the non-thermal (synchrotron and Compton) radiation increases in the course of a quasi-static contraction of the rotator, reaches its maximum at whichL _nthL _th, and then decreases considerably due to rapprochement of the magnetic and rotational axes. Such a behaviour ofL _nth corresponds to the expected secular change of the activity of galactic and quasar nuclei as a certain flaring up, reaching the maximum of their activity and subsequent dying out.Some essential properties of quasars and quasar-like phenomena in galactic and quasar nuclei are explained on the basis of the theory presented. As an illustration, the parameters of a supermassive rotator modelling the source of activity in quasar 3C 273 are calculated (Table I). The estimate of the frequency of occurrence of rotators withL _nth>L _th andL _nthL _th is in a reasonable correspondence with the statistics of active phenomena in the nuclei of galaxies of different morphological types.Observational tests for this theory are suggested. The most important one called upon to ascertain the presence in the nuclei of galaxies and quasars of a supermassive body as a source of their activity is the variability of infra-red radiation near its spectral maximum.Similarity and difference between a supermassive oblique rotator and a pulsar, the model of a quasar nucleus as a cluster of pulsars, an axysymmetric rotator and a low-entropy configuration (disk) as stages of the evolution of an oblique rotator as well as the problems of its genesis and fate are discussed at the end of the paper (Section 9). The main results of the paper are listed in Section 10.     

Infrared absorption by shape distributions of NH3 ice particles: An application to the Jovian atmosphere

We study how distribution of small NH₃ ice particles over shapes affects the strength of resonant absorption features at 9.4 and 26 m. The T-matrix approach is used to compute optical cross sections for shape distributions of 0.5- and 1-m volume-equivalent radius spheroids in random orientation. It is found that the maximum of the resonant absorption for the shape distributions is 1.5–2 times smaller than that for equal-volume spherical particles, the absorption peak being shifted towards longer wavelengths. The results of our computations support the conclusion of West et al. (1989) that, apparently, small NH₃ ice particles cannot be the principal component of the Jovian troposphere in the 300- to 500-mbar region.     

Damping and nonlinear wave-particle interactions of Alfvén-waves in the solar wind

Since most Alfvén-waves in the solar wind are observed to come from the Sun, nonlinear wave-particle interactions can be expected to constitute their dominant dissipation process. The growth or damping of two circularly-polarized Alfvén-waves with wave vectors parallel to the ambient magnetic field is calculated using kinetic theory. If the waves are oppositely polarized they both damp proportional to their frequency. If the waves are of the same polarization, both the lower frequency wave and the plasma particles gain energy at the expense of the higher frequency wave. Thus, with increasing distance from the Sun, a steepening of the power spectrum is expected. For waves propagating in the same direction, the interaction is negligible for small , while it becomes appreciable for 10^–1. For conditions typical of the solar wind near 1 AU an observed half-hour linearly-polarized wave, for example, with B=0(B ₀) has a damping time of about 10 h.     

Simulations of cosmic-ray particle diffusion

The diffusion of charged particles in a stochastic magnetic field (strengthB) which is superimposed on a uniform magnetic fieldB ₀ k is studied. A slab model of the stochastic magnetic field is used. Many particles were released into different realizations of the magnetic field and their subsequent displacements z in the direction of the uniform magnetic field numerically computed. The particle trajectories were calculated over periods of many particle scattering times. The ensemble average was then used to find the parallel diffusion coefficient . The simulations were performed for several types of stochastic magnetic fields and for a wide range of particle gyro-radius and the parameterB/B ₀. The calculations have shown that the theory of charged particle diffusion is a good approximation even when the stochastic magnetic field is of the same strength as the uniform magnetic field.