Stochastic Acceleration of Energetic Particles in the Magnetosphere of Saturn

Voyager's plasma probe observations suggest that there are at least three fundamentally different plasma regimes in Saturn: the hot outer magnetosphere, the extended plasma sheet, and the inner plasma torus. At the outer regions of the inner torus some ions have been accelerated to reach energies of the order of 43 keV. We develop a model that calculates the acceleration of charged particles in the Saturn's magnetosphere. We propose that the stochastic electric field associated to the observed magnetic field fluctuations is responsible of such acceleration. A random electric field is derived from the fluctuating magnetic field – via a Monte Carlo simulation – which then is applied to the momentum equation of charged particles seeded in the magnetosphere. Taking different initial conditions, like the source of charged particles and the distribution function of their velocities, we find that particles injected with very low energies ranging from 0.129 eV to 5.659 keV can be strongly accelerated to reach much higher energies ranging from 22.220 eV to 9.711 keV as a result of 125,000 hitting events (the latter are used in the numerical code to produce the particle acceleration over a predetermined distance).     

视超光速运动与加速模型

用相对论加速喷流模型对48个具有视超光速的射电源进行了分析，结果不但支持流行的喷流模型而且说明加速模型是合理的。     

米波射电毫秒级SPIKE-Ⅲ型爆发与日冕电子加速过程的研究

综述云南天文台在太阳活动２２周峰年期间观测到的米波射电频谱资料,和在处理资料时 一些共生毫秒级Ｓｐｉｋｅ的Ⅲ型爆发,它们的不同形态提示了Ⅲ型爆发和毫秒级Ｓｐｉｋｅ的发生关系。通过两个典型事件的分析,根据Ｓｐｉｋｅ和Ⅲ型爆发出现的 时序以及形态的连续和转换特性,证实了日冕电子加速区位于毫秒级Ｓｐｉｋｅ爆发和Ⅲ型爆发的源区之上,由观测指出Ⅲ型爆发对应的界面频率是位于２５０ＭＨｚ附近,并试图用等离子假设     

Acceleration time-scale in an ultrarelativistic shock

The acceleration mechanism in ultrarelativistic shocks is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. We apply a method of discrete small-amplitude particle momentum scattering to reproduce highly anisotropic conditions at the shock and describe the acceleration mechanism carefully. The obtained acceleration time equals 1.0 r _g c if the spectral index reaches the value of 2.2, independent of physical conditions in the shock. Some other parameters of the acceleration process are also provided.     

Variability of the extreme z = 4.72 blazar, GB 1428+4217

On 1998 May 9–11, the highly variable, low-luminosity Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051 was observed in an unusual low-flux state by BeppoSAX , RXTE and EUVE . We present fits of the 4–15 keV RXTE spectrum and BeppoSAX MECS spectrum obtained during this observation, which are consistent with the interpretation that the source had switched off, leaving only the spectrum of pure reflection from distant cold matter. We place this result in context by showing the X-ray light curve of NGC 4051 obtained by our RXTE monitoring campaign over the past two and a half years, which shows that the low state lasted for ∼150 d before the May observations (implying that the reflecting material is >10¹⁷ cm from the continuum source) and forms part of a light curve showing distinct variations in long-term average flux over time-scales > months. We show that the long-time-scale component to X-ray variability is intrinsic to the primary continuum and is probably distinct from the variability at shorter time-scales. The long-time-scale component to variability maybe associated with variations in the accretion flow of matter on to the central black hole . As the source approaches the low state, the variability process becomes non-linear. NGC 4051 may represent a microcosm of all X-ray variability in radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs), displaying in a few years a variety of flux states and variability properties which more luminous AGNs may pass through on time-scales of decades to thousands of years.     

Aspect angle for interstellar magnetic field in SN 1006

A number of important processes taking place around strong shocks in supernova remnants (SNRs) depend on the shock obliquity. The measured synchrotron flux is a function of the aspect angle between interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) and the line of sight. Thus, a model of non-thermal emission from SNRs should account for the orientation of the ambient magnetic field. We develop a new method for the estimation of the aspect angle, based on the comparison between observed and synthesized radio maps of SNRs, making different assumptions about the dependence of electron injection efficiency on the shock obliquity. The method uses the azimuthal profile of radio surface brightness as a probe for orientation of ambient magnetic field because it is almost insensitive to the downstream distribution of magnetic field and emitting electrons. We apply our method to a new radio image of SN 1006 produced on the basis of archival Very Large Array and Parkes data. The image recovers emission from all spatial structures with angular scales from a few arcsec to 15 arcmin. We explore different models of injection efficiency and find the following best-fitting values for the aspect angle of SN 1006:  φ_o= 70^o± 4.2^o  if the injection is isotropic,  φ_o= 64^o± 2.8^o  for quasi-perpendicular injection (SNR has an equatorial belt in both cases) and  φ_o= 11^o± 0.8^o  for quasi-parallel injection (polar-cap model of SNR). In the last case, SN 1006 is expected to have a centrally peaked morphology contrary to what is observed. Therefore, our analysis provides some indication against the quasi-parallel injection model.     

Particle-acceleration time-scales in TeV blazar flares

Observations of minute-scale flares in TeV Blazars place constraints on particle-acceleration mechanisms in those objects. The implications for a variety of radiation mechanisms have been addressed in the literature; in this paper, we compare four different acceleration mechanisms: diffusive shock acceleration, second-order Fermi, shear acceleration and the converter mechanism. When the acceleration time-scales and radiative losses are taken into account, we can exclude shear acceleration and the neutron-based converted mechanism as possible acceleration processes in these systems. The first-order Fermi process and the converter mechanism working via synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) photons are still practically instantaneous, however, provided sufficient turbulence is generated on the time-scale of seconds. We propose stochastic acceleration as a promising candidate for the energy-dependent time delays in recent gamma-ray flares of Markarian 501.     

A diffuse bubble-like radio-halo source MRC 0116+111: imprint of AGN feedback in a low-mass cluster of galaxies

We present detailed observations of MRC 0116+111, revealing a luminous, miniradio halo of ∼240-kpc diameter located at the centre of a cluster of galaxies at redshift   z = 0.131  . Our optical and multiwavelength Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and Very Large Array radio observations reveal a highly unusual radio source: showing a pair of giant (∼100-kpc diameter) bubble-like diffuse structures, that are about three times larger than the analogous extended radio emission observed in M87 – the dominant central radio galaxy in the Virgo cluster. However, in MRC 0116+111 we do not detect any ongoing active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity, such as a compact core or active radio jets feeding the plasma bubbles. The radio emitting relativistic particles and magnetic fields were probably seeded in the past by a pair of radio jets originating in the AGN of the central cD galaxy. The extremely steep high-frequency radio spectrum of the north-western bubble, located ∼100 kpc from cluster centre, indicates radiation losses, possibly because having detached, it is rising buoyantly and moving away into the putative hot intracluster medium. The other bubble, closer to the cluster centre, shows signs of ongoing particle re-acceleration. We estimate that the radio jets which inflated these two bubbles might have also fed enough energy into the intracluster medium to create an enormous system of cavities and shock fronts, and to drive a massive outflow from the AGN, which could counter-balance and even quench a cooling flow. Therefore, this source presents an excellent opportunity to understand the energetics and the dynamical evolution of radio jet inflated plasma bubbles in the hot cluster atmosphere.     

Electric potential jumps in the Io-Jupiter flux tube

The Io flux tube (IFT), along which Io interacts with the Jovian magnetosphere, is the place of plasma acceleration processes resulting in auroral like emissions, in UV, IR and Radio emissions in the decameter range. At Earth, the study of the acceleration processes is mainly made by in situ measurements. Acceleration processes at Jupiter were first deduced from the observation of a particular kind of decameter radio emissions from the IFT: the short (S-)bursts. These radio bursts present a negative drift in the time-frequency domain, which is related to the motion of the energetic electrons which produce them. The measure of their drift thus permits the kinetic energy of the electrons to be obtained, as well as its variations along the IFT which have been interpreted as electric potential jumps. Using an enhanced S-burst detection and drift measurement method, more than 1 h of quasi-continuous decametric emissions recorded at the Kharkov UTR-2 radiotelescope have been analyzed. We observe the evolution of the electron kinetic energy with the longitude of Io with a resolution of , and detect the presence of acceleration structures with characteristics being consistent with electric potential jumps of few hundred volts, and moving along the IFT in the upward direction (toward Io) at the local sound velocity.