Bright Gamma-Ray Flares Powered by Magnetic Reconnection in QED-strength Magnetic Fields

Schoeffler, K. M.; Grismayer, T.; Uzdensky, D.; Fonseca, R. A.; Silva, L. O.

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaf1b9

Title: Bright Gamma-Ray Flares Powered by Magnetic Reconnection in QED-strength Magnetic Fields

Journal Article · Mon Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2019 · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aaf1b9· OSTI ID:1611047

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Univ. de Lisboa, Lisboa (Portugal)
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Center for Integrated Plasma Studies; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ (United States)
Univ. de Lisboa, Lisboa (Portugal). DCTI/ISCTE Inst.

Strong magnetic fields in the magnetospheres of neutron stars (NSs) (especially magnetars) and other astrophysical objects may release their energy in violent, intense episodes of magnetic reconnection. While reconnection has been studied extensively, the extreme field strength near NSs introduces new effects: radiation cooling and electron–positron pair production. Using massively parallel particle-in-cell simulations that self-consistently incorporate these new radiation and quantum-electrodynamic effects, we investigate relativistic magnetic reconnection in the strong-field regime. We show that reconnection in this regime can efficiently convert magnetic energy to X-ray and gamma-ray radiation and thus power bright, high-energy astrophysical flares. Rapid radiative cooling causes strong plasma and magnetic field compression in compact plasmoids. In the most extreme cases, the field can approach the quantum limit, leading to copious pair production.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); European Research Council (ERC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0008409; SC0008655

OSTI ID:: 1611047

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 870, Issue 1; ISSN 1538-4357

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 17 works

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Title: Bright Gamma-Ray Flares Powered by Magnetic Reconnection in QED-strength Magnetic Fields

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