High-energy particles in supernova remnants and the interstellar medium

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5151395

Boulares, A

The author studied some effects of high energy particles (cosmic rays) on shock structures of supernova remnants (SNRs), on the gas distribution in the interstellar medium, and on the structure of the galactic magnetic field perpendicular to the plane (along z). He also studied the observed cosmic-ray (CR) electron spectrum in light of shock acceleration in shell-like SNRs. It is found that shock acceleration of cosmic-rays with wave damping into the gas can indeed be made consistent with some astronomical observations of SNRs, and also the observed CR electron spectrum. It is predicted that the remnant's shocks have larger velocities than inferred from pure gas shock wave models, and that the CR electrons above {approximately} 50 GeV must come from sources other than shell-like SNRs due to cut-offs in the shock acceleration process. The cosmic-rays are found to have an important inflating effect on the distribution of the interstellar gas, which without them would have a thinner distribution. This effect reduces the amount of dark matter required by earlier studies of the galactic gravitational potential, and consequently the Oort limit. They are also found to play a major role in the dynamics of the interstellar medium along with the magnetic field. Finally, wave damping near cosmic-ray shock waves in analyzed. It is found that for the wave amplitude to remain small, a very efficient damping mechanism is required.

• Research Organization: Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5151395
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640101 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Cosmic Radiation
640102* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
640105 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ACCELERATION
COSMIC ELECTRONS
COSMIC GASES
COSMIC RADIATION
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTRON SPECTRA
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
FLUIDS
GASES
GEV RANGE
INTERSTELLAR MAGNETIC FIELDS
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LEPTONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MORPHOLOGY
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
ORIGIN
RADIATIONS
SHOCK WAVES
SPACE
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
SPECTRA
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
VELOCITY