• DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/809/1/29
• Corpus ID: 118848014

RAPID COSMIC-RAY ACCELERATION AT PERPENDICULAR SHOCKS IN SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

@article{Takamoto2015RAPIDCA,
  title={RAPID COSMIC-RAY ACCELERATION AT PERPENDICULAR SHOCKS IN SUPERNOVA REMNANTS},
  author={Makoto Takamoto and John G. Kirk},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={2015},
  volume={809}
}

• M. Takamoto, J. Kirk
• Published 14 June 2015
• Physics
• The Astrophysical Journal

Perpendicular shocks are shown to be rapid particle accelerators that perform optimally when the ratio us of the shock speed to the particle speed roughly equals the ratio 1/η of the scattering rate to the gyro frequency. We use analytical methods and Monte-Carlo simulations to solve the kinetic equation that governs the anisotropy generated at these shocks, and find, for ηus ≈ 1, that the spectral index softens by unity and the acceleration time increases by a factor of two compared to the standard result of the diffusive shock acceleration theory. These results provide a theoretical basis for the 30 year old conjecture that a supernova exploding into the wind of a Wolf–Rayet star may accelerate protons to an energy exceeding 1015 eV.