Possibility of efficient production of electron--positron pairs near pulsars and accreting black holes
The phenomenon of a synchrotron reactor is modeled by the Monte Carlo method under the conditions when the intense production of pairs of electrons and positrons occurs through ..gamma gamma.. interactions (an electron-positron reactor). The time-dependent solution (particle spectra, electron and positron densities) was calculated under the assumption that the medium is homogeneous under the given initial conditions. It turned out that in a wide range of conditions approx.10/sup -1/ of the initial energy injected into the reactor in the form of hard particles goes into the rest mass of electrons and positrons, and the characteristic photon spectrum is established with a sharp dropoff on the high-energy side in the 1 MeV region. Within the framework of the model of an electron-positron reactor the origin of the annihilation ..gamma..-ray line, like that observed in the direction of the center of the Galaxy, seems quite natural. Both an accreting black hole (pair production is most efficient if the mass of the hole is M< or approx. =10/sup 3/ M/sub sun/)and a young pulsar releasing at least 10/sup 39/ erg/sec in the form of a flux of hard photons from the region of the magnetic poles can serve as the positron source. Other objects for which the development of an electron--positron reactor seems very likely are quasars and active galactic nuclei having a nonthermal luminosity close to the Eddington limit.
- Research Organization:
- Institute of Nuclear Research, USSR Academy of Sciences
- OSTI ID:
- 6390259
- Journal Information:
- Sov. Astron. (Engl. Transl.); (United States), Vol. 29:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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GENERAL PHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
STAR EVOLUTION
PULSARS
PAIR PRODUCTION
ANNIHILATION
COSMIC ELECTRONS
COSMIC GAMMA SOURCES
COSMIC PHOTONS
COSMIC POSITRONS
ELECTRON PAIRS
LUMINOSITY
MONTE CARLO METHOD
STAR ACCRETION
TIME DEPENDENCE
ANTILEPTONS
ANTIMATTER
ANTIPARTICLES
BASIC INTERACTIONS
COSMIC RADIATION
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
COSMIC RAY SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
INTERACTIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LEPTONS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOTONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POSITRONS
RADIATIONS
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