Gamma rays from relativistic electrons undergoing Compton losses in isotropic photon fields

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/167668· OSTI ID:5510266

Zdziarski, A A ^[1]

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1. Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD (USA)

The kinetic equation describing Compton losses of relativistic electrons in an isotropic field of soft background photons is solved exactly including both continuous energy losses in the classical Thomson regime and catastrophic losses in the quantum Klein-Nishina regime. This extends the previous treatments of this problem, which assumed the validity of either one of these regimes alone. The problem is relevant to astrophysical sources containing relativistic electrons. Analytical solutions for the steady state electron and gamma-ray spectra in the case of power-law soft photons and monoenergetic and power-law electron injections are obtained. Numerical solutions are presented for monoenergetic, blackbody, and power-law soft photons. A comparison between the numerical and the available analytic solutions is made. 15 refs.

• OSTI ID: 5510266
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal; (USA) Vol. 342; ISSN ASJOA; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640100* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
ASTROPHYSICS
BACKGROUND RADIATION
BASIC INTERACTIONS
BEAMS
COMPTON EFFECT
COSMIC GAMMA SOURCES
COSMIC RAY SOURCES
ELASTIC SCATTERING
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON BEAMS
ENERGY RANGE
GAMMA RADIATION
GAMMA SPECTRA
INTERACTIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LEPTON BEAMS
MECHANICS
PARTICLE BEAMS
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PHOTON-ELECTRON INTERACTIONS
PHOTON-LEPTON INTERACTIONS
QUANTUM MECHANICS
RADIATIONS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SCATTERING
SPECTRA