Some properties of synchrotron radio and inverse-Compton gamma-ray images of supernova remnants

The synchrotron radio maps of supernova remnants (SNRs) in a uniform interstellar medium and interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) are analysed, allowing for different 'sensitivity' of the injection efficiency to the obliquity of the shock. The very-high-energy γ-ray maps arising from inverse Compton processes are also synthesized. The properties of images in these different wavelength bands are compared, with particular emphasis on the location of the bright limbs in bilateral SNRs. Recent High-Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) observations of SN 1006 show that the radio and inverse Compton γ-ray limbs coincide, and we found that this may happen if (i) injection is isotropic but the variation of the maximum energy of electrons is rather fast to compensate for differences in the magnetic field, or (ii) the obliquity dependence of injection (either quasi-parallel or quasi-perpendicular) and the electron maximum energy are strong enough to dominate the magnetic field variation. In the latter case, the obliquity dependences of the injection and the maximum energy should not be opposite. We argue that the position of the limbs alone, and even their coincidence in radio, X-rays and γ-rays, as discovered by HESS in SN 1006, cannot be conclusive as regards the dependence of the electron injection efficiency, the compression/amplification of the ISMF and the electron maximum energy on the obliquity angle.