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Abstract Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) are accelerated at the forward shocks of supernova remnants (SNRs) via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA), an efficient acceleration mechanism that predicts power-law energy distributions of CRs. However, observations of nonthermal SNR emission imply CR energy distributions that are generally steeper than E −2 , the standard DSA prediction. Recent results from kinetic hybrid simulations suggest that such steep spectra may arise from the drift of magnetic structures with respect to the thermal plasma downstream of the shock. Using a semi-analytic model of nonlinear DSA, we investigate the implications that these results have on the phenomenology of a wide range of SNRs. By accounting for the motion of magnetic structures in the downstream, we produce CR energy distributions that are substantially steeper than E −2 and consistent with observations. Our formalism reproduces both modestly steep spectra of Galactic SNRs (∝ E −2.2 ) and the very steep spectra of young radio supernovae (∝ E −3 ).
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Diffusive shock re-acceleration
We have performed two-dimensional hybrid simulations of non-relativistic collisionless shocks in the presence of pre-existing energetic particles (‘seeds’); such a study applies, for instance, to the re-acceleration of galactic cosmic rays (CRs) in supernova remnant (SNR) shocks and solar wind energetic particles in heliospheric shocks. Energetic particles can be effectively reflected and accelerated regardless of shock inclination via a process that we call diffusive shock re-acceleration. We find that re-accelerated seeds can drive the streaming instability in the shock upstream and produce effective magnetic field amplification. This can eventually trigger the injection of thermal protons even at oblique shocks that ordinarily cannot inject thermal particles. We characterize the current in reflected seeds, finding that it tends to a universal value $$J\simeq en_{\text{CR}}v_{\text{sh}}$$ , where $$en_{\text{CR}}$$ is the seed charge density and $$v_{\text{sh}}$$ is the shock velocity. When applying our results to SNRs, we find that the re-acceleration of galactic CRs can excite the Bell instability to nonlinear levels in less than $${\sim}10~\text{yr}$$ , thereby providing a minimum level of magnetic field amplification for any SNR shock. Finally, we discuss the relevance of diffusive shock re-acceleration also for other environments, such as heliospheric shocks, galactic superbubbles and clusters of galaxies.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1814708
- PAR ID:
- 10105023
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Plasma Physics
- Volume:
- 84
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0022-3778
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377818000478
