One-photon pair annihilation in magnetized relativistic plasmas

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1986 · Astrophys. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/163791· OSTI ID:5734115

Harding, A K

In supersonic magnetic fields, electron-positron pairs may annihilate into single photons producing spectral features above 1 MeV. The paper calculates the exact one-photon annihilation rate in the general case where pairs may annihilate from excited Landau states, extending the previous studies which were restricted to pairs in the ground state. Asymptotic expressions for annihilation spectra and rates in the limit of large pair quantum numbers are also derived. It is found that the rate of annihilation from excited states can exceed the rate from the ground state by orders of magnitude in fields less than about 2 x 10 to the 12th G. This allows one-photon annihilation to be competitive with the two-photon process at typical neutron star field strengths. Annihilation spectra from a Maxwellian pair plasma at transrelativistic temperatures show fine structure near threshold on a scale (h/2pi)omega sub B as the result of contributions from individual pair states, which blend into a smooth continuum at higher energies. 19 references.

• Research Organization: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
• OSTI ID: 5734115
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J.; (United States), Vol. 300
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANNIHILATION
PHOTON EMISSION
ELECTRON PAIRS
NEUTRON STARS
CALCULATION METHODS
EXCITED STATES
RELATIVISTIC PLASMA
THEORETICAL DATA
BASIC INTERACTIONS
DATA
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
EMISSION
ENERGY LEVELS
INFORMATION
INTERACTIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
PLASMA
STARS
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources