RECONNECTION-POWERED LINEAR ACCELERATOR AND GAMMA-RAY FLARES IN THE CRAB NEBULA
The recent discovery of day-long gamma-ray flares in the Crab Nebula, presumed to be synchrotron emission by PeV (1015 eV) electrons in milligauss magnetic fields, presents a strong challenge to particle acceleration models. The observed photon energies exceed the upper limit (~100 MeV) obtained by...
Saved in:
Published in: | Astrophysical journal. Letters 2011-08, Vol.737 (2), p.L40-jQuery1323916241489='48' |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
cited_by | cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c420t-9e00846d4d3e7b80a19a4d36e9361c949f3214b2467955ef92bb4a666f0d735f3 |
---|---|
cites | cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c420t-9e00846d4d3e7b80a19a4d36e9361c949f3214b2467955ef92bb4a666f0d735f3 |
container_end_page | jQuery1323916241489='48' |
container_issue | 2 |
container_start_page | L40 |
container_title | Astrophysical journal. Letters |
container_volume | 737 |
creator | Uzdensky, Dmitri A. Cerutti, Benoît Begelman, Mitchell C. |
description | The recent discovery of day-long gamma-ray flares in the Crab Nebula, presumed to be synchrotron emission by PeV (1015 eV) electrons in milligauss magnetic fields, presents a strong challenge to particle acceleration models. The observed photon energies exceed the upper limit (~100 MeV) obtained by balancing the acceleration rate and synchrotron radiation losses under standard conditions where the electric field is smaller than the magnetic field. We argue that a linear electric accelerator, operating at magnetic reconnection sites, is able to circumvent this difficulty. Sufficiently energetic electrons have gyroradii so large that their motion is insensitive to small-scale turbulent structures in the reconnection layer and is controlled only by large-scale fields. We show that such particles are guided into the reconnection layer by the reversing magnetic field as they are accelerated by the reconnection electric field. As these electrons become confined within the current sheet, they experience a decreasing perpendicular magnetic field that may drop below the accelerating electric field. This enables them to reach higher energies before suffering radiation losses and hence to emit synchrotron radiation in excess of the 100 MeV limit, providing a natural resolution to the Crab gamma-ray flare paradox. |
doi_str_mv | 10.1088/2041-8205/737/2/L40 |
format | article |
fullrecord | <record><control><sourceid>proquest_osti_</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_osti_scitechconnect_21562459</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><sourcerecordid>920793753</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c420t-9e00846d4d3e7b80a19a4d36e9361c949f3214b2467955ef92bb4a666f0d735f3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNo9kM1Og0AURidGE2v1CdxM4sIVMv8wyylOWxIKBmmMqwnQIWLaUhm68O2laePqntycfIsDwCNGLxiFoU8Qw15IEPcDGvjETxi6ApPLF9Prf0b8Ftw5940QQQKHE5DlOsrSVEdFnKXeW_ahc_0KkzjVKocqinSic1VkI6evcKFWK-Xl6hPOE5XrdxinsFhqGOVqBlM9WyfqHtw05dbZh8udgvVcF9HSS7JFHKnEqxlBgyctQiETG7ahNqhCVGJZjiyspALXksmGEswqwkQgObeNJFXFSiFEgzYB5Q2dgqfzbueG1ri6HWz9VXf7va0HQzAXhHE5Ws9n69B3P0frBrNrXW2323Jvu6MzkqBA0oDT0aRns-4753rbmEPf7sr-12BkTo3NqaA5FTRjY0PM2Jj-AYBQZXs</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Open Access Repository</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>920793753</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>RECONNECTION-POWERED LINEAR ACCELERATOR AND GAMMA-RAY FLARES IN THE CRAB NEBULA</title><source>EZB Electronic Journals Library</source><creator>Uzdensky, Dmitri A. ; Cerutti, Benoît ; Begelman, Mitchell C.</creator><creatorcontrib>Uzdensky, Dmitri A. ; Cerutti, Benoît ; Begelman, Mitchell C.</creatorcontrib><description>The recent discovery of day-long gamma-ray flares in the Crab Nebula, presumed to be synchrotron emission by PeV (1015 eV) electrons in milligauss magnetic fields, presents a strong challenge to particle acceleration models. The observed photon energies exceed the upper limit (~100 MeV) obtained by balancing the acceleration rate and synchrotron radiation losses under standard conditions where the electric field is smaller than the magnetic field. We argue that a linear electric accelerator, operating at magnetic reconnection sites, is able to circumvent this difficulty. Sufficiently energetic electrons have gyroradii so large that their motion is insensitive to small-scale turbulent structures in the reconnection layer and is controlled only by large-scale fields. We show that such particles are guided into the reconnection layer by the reversing magnetic field as they are accelerated by the reconnection electric field. As these electrons become confined within the current sheet, they experience a decreasing perpendicular magnetic field that may drop below the accelerating electric field. This enables them to reach higher energies before suffering radiation losses and hence to emit synchrotron radiation in excess of the 100 MeV limit, providing a natural resolution to the Crab gamma-ray flare paradox.</description><identifier>ISSN: 2041-8205</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 2041-8213</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/737/2/L40</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>United States</publisher><subject>ACCELERATORS ; ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY ; BREMSSTRAHLUNG ; COSMIC RADIO SOURCES ; CRAB NEBULA ; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION ; ELECTRONS ; ELEMENTARY PARTICLES ; FERMIONS ; GAMMA RADIATION ; IONIZING RADIATIONS ; LEPTONS ; LINEAR ACCELERATORS ; MAGNETIC FIELDS ; MAGNETIC RECONNECTION ; NEBULAE ; RADIATIONS ; SUPERNOVA REMNANTS ; SYNCHROTRON RADIATION ; TAIL ELECTRONS</subject><ispartof>Astrophysical journal. Letters, 2011-08, Vol.737 (2), p.L40-jQuery1323916241489='48'</ispartof><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><oa>free_for_read</oa><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c420t-9e00846d4d3e7b80a19a4d36e9361c949f3214b2467955ef92bb4a666f0d735f3</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c420t-9e00846d4d3e7b80a19a4d36e9361c949f3214b2467955ef92bb4a666f0d735f3</cites></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><link.rule.ids>230,314,776,780,881,27900,27901</link.rule.ids><backlink>$$Uhttps://www.osti.gov/biblio/21562459$$D View this record in Osti.gov$$Hfree_for_read</backlink></links><search><creatorcontrib>Uzdensky, Dmitri A.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Cerutti, Benoît</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Begelman, Mitchell C.</creatorcontrib><title>RECONNECTION-POWERED LINEAR ACCELERATOR AND GAMMA-RAY FLARES IN THE CRAB NEBULA</title><title>Astrophysical journal. Letters</title><description>The recent discovery of day-long gamma-ray flares in the Crab Nebula, presumed to be synchrotron emission by PeV (1015 eV) electrons in milligauss magnetic fields, presents a strong challenge to particle acceleration models. The observed photon energies exceed the upper limit (~100 MeV) obtained by balancing the acceleration rate and synchrotron radiation losses under standard conditions where the electric field is smaller than the magnetic field. We argue that a linear electric accelerator, operating at magnetic reconnection sites, is able to circumvent this difficulty. Sufficiently energetic electrons have gyroradii so large that their motion is insensitive to small-scale turbulent structures in the reconnection layer and is controlled only by large-scale fields. We show that such particles are guided into the reconnection layer by the reversing magnetic field as they are accelerated by the reconnection electric field. As these electrons become confined within the current sheet, they experience a decreasing perpendicular magnetic field that may drop below the accelerating electric field. This enables them to reach higher energies before suffering radiation losses and hence to emit synchrotron radiation in excess of the 100 MeV limit, providing a natural resolution to the Crab gamma-ray flare paradox.</description><subject>ACCELERATORS</subject><subject>ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY</subject><subject>BREMSSTRAHLUNG</subject><subject>COSMIC RADIO SOURCES</subject><subject>CRAB NEBULA</subject><subject>ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION</subject><subject>ELECTRONS</subject><subject>ELEMENTARY PARTICLES</subject><subject>FERMIONS</subject><subject>GAMMA RADIATION</subject><subject>IONIZING RADIATIONS</subject><subject>LEPTONS</subject><subject>LINEAR ACCELERATORS</subject><subject>MAGNETIC FIELDS</subject><subject>MAGNETIC RECONNECTION</subject><subject>NEBULAE</subject><subject>RADIATIONS</subject><subject>SUPERNOVA REMNANTS</subject><subject>SYNCHROTRON RADIATION</subject><subject>TAIL ELECTRONS</subject><issn>2041-8205</issn><issn>2041-8213</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2011</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><recordid>eNo9kM1Og0AURidGE2v1CdxM4sIVMv8wyylOWxIKBmmMqwnQIWLaUhm68O2laePqntycfIsDwCNGLxiFoU8Qw15IEPcDGvjETxi6ApPLF9Prf0b8Ftw5940QQQKHE5DlOsrSVEdFnKXeW_ahc_0KkzjVKocqinSic1VkI6evcKFWK-Xl6hPOE5XrdxinsFhqGOVqBlM9WyfqHtw05dbZh8udgvVcF9HSS7JFHKnEqxlBgyctQiETG7ahNqhCVGJZjiyspALXksmGEswqwkQgObeNJFXFSiFEgzYB5Q2dgqfzbueG1ri6HWz9VXf7va0HQzAXhHE5Ws9n69B3P0frBrNrXW2323Jvu6MzkqBA0oDT0aRns-4753rbmEPf7sr-12BkTo3NqaA5FTRjY0PM2Jj-AYBQZXs</recordid><startdate>20110820</startdate><enddate>20110820</enddate><creator>Uzdensky, Dmitri A.</creator><creator>Cerutti, Benoît</creator><creator>Begelman, Mitchell C.</creator><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>7TG</scope><scope>KL.</scope><scope>OTOTI</scope></search><sort><creationdate>20110820</creationdate><title>RECONNECTION-POWERED LINEAR ACCELERATOR AND GAMMA-RAY FLARES IN THE CRAB NEBULA</title><author>Uzdensky, Dmitri A. ; Cerutti, Benoît ; Begelman, Mitchell C.</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c420t-9e00846d4d3e7b80a19a4d36e9361c949f3214b2467955ef92bb4a666f0d735f3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2011</creationdate><topic>ACCELERATORS</topic><topic>ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY</topic><topic>BREMSSTRAHLUNG</topic><topic>COSMIC RADIO SOURCES</topic><topic>CRAB NEBULA</topic><topic>ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION</topic><topic>ELECTRONS</topic><topic>ELEMENTARY PARTICLES</topic><topic>FERMIONS</topic><topic>GAMMA RADIATION</topic><topic>IONIZING RADIATIONS</topic><topic>LEPTONS</topic><topic>LINEAR ACCELERATORS</topic><topic>MAGNETIC FIELDS</topic><topic>MAGNETIC RECONNECTION</topic><topic>NEBULAE</topic><topic>RADIATIONS</topic><topic>SUPERNOVA REMNANTS</topic><topic>SYNCHROTRON RADIATION</topic><topic>TAIL ELECTRONS</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Uzdensky, Dmitri A.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Cerutti, Benoît</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Begelman, Mitchell C.</creatorcontrib><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts</collection><collection>Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts - Academic</collection><collection>OSTI.GOV</collection><jtitle>Astrophysical journal. Letters</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Uzdensky, Dmitri A.</au><au>Cerutti, Benoît</au><au>Begelman, Mitchell C.</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>RECONNECTION-POWERED LINEAR ACCELERATOR AND GAMMA-RAY FLARES IN THE CRAB NEBULA</atitle><jtitle>Astrophysical journal. Letters</jtitle><date>2011-08-20</date><risdate>2011</risdate><volume>737</volume><issue>2</issue><spage>L40</spage><epage>jQuery1323916241489='48'</epage><pages>L40-jQuery1323916241489='48'</pages><issn>2041-8205</issn><eissn>2041-8213</eissn><abstract>The recent discovery of day-long gamma-ray flares in the Crab Nebula, presumed to be synchrotron emission by PeV (1015 eV) electrons in milligauss magnetic fields, presents a strong challenge to particle acceleration models. The observed photon energies exceed the upper limit (~100 MeV) obtained by balancing the acceleration rate and synchrotron radiation losses under standard conditions where the electric field is smaller than the magnetic field. We argue that a linear electric accelerator, operating at magnetic reconnection sites, is able to circumvent this difficulty. Sufficiently energetic electrons have gyroradii so large that their motion is insensitive to small-scale turbulent structures in the reconnection layer and is controlled only by large-scale fields. We show that such particles are guided into the reconnection layer by the reversing magnetic field as they are accelerated by the reconnection electric field. As these electrons become confined within the current sheet, they experience a decreasing perpendicular magnetic field that may drop below the accelerating electric field. This enables them to reach higher energies before suffering radiation losses and hence to emit synchrotron radiation in excess of the 100 MeV limit, providing a natural resolution to the Crab gamma-ray flare paradox.</abstract><cop>United States</cop><doi>10.1088/2041-8205/737/2/L40</doi><oa>free_for_read</oa></addata></record> |
fulltext | fulltext |
identifier | ISSN: 2041-8205 |
ispartof | Astrophysical journal. Letters, 2011-08, Vol.737 (2), p.L40-jQuery1323916241489='48' |
issn | 2041-8205 2041-8213 |
language | eng |
recordid | cdi_osti_scitechconnect_21562459 |
source | EZB Electronic Journals Library |
subjects | ACCELERATORS ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY BREMSSTRAHLUNG COSMIC RADIO SOURCES CRAB NEBULA ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION ELECTRONS ELEMENTARY PARTICLES FERMIONS GAMMA RADIATION IONIZING RADIATIONS LEPTONS LINEAR ACCELERATORS MAGNETIC FIELDS MAGNETIC RECONNECTION NEBULAE RADIATIONS SUPERNOVA REMNANTS SYNCHROTRON RADIATION TAIL ELECTRONS |
title | RECONNECTION-POWERED LINEAR ACCELERATOR AND GAMMA-RAY FLARES IN THE CRAB NEBULA |
url | http://sfxeu10.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/loughborough?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2025-02-24T12%3A16%3A38IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-proquest_osti_&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=RECONNECTION-POWERED%20LINEAR%20ACCELERATOR%20AND%20GAMMA-RAY%20FLARES%20IN%20THE%20CRAB%20NEBULA&rft.jtitle=Astrophysical%20journal.%20Letters&rft.au=Uzdensky,%20Dmitri%20A.&rft.date=2011-08-20&rft.volume=737&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=L40&rft.epage=jQuery1323916241489='48'&rft.pages=L40-jQuery1323916241489='48'&rft.issn=2041-8205&rft.eissn=2041-8213&rft_id=info:doi/10.1088/2041-8205/737/2/L40&rft_dat=%3Cproquest_osti_%3E920793753%3C/proquest_osti_%3E%3Cgrp_id%3Ecdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c420t-9e00846d4d3e7b80a19a4d36e9361c949f3214b2467955ef92bb4a666f0d735f3%3C/grp_id%3E%3Coa%3E%3C/oa%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=920793753&rft_id=info:pmid/&rfr_iscdi=true |