12 research outputs found
Acceleration of energetic particles by large-scale compressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
Fast particles diffusing along magnetic field lines in a turbulent plasma can
diffuse through and then return to the same eddy many times before the eddy is
randomized in the turbulent flow. This leads to an enhancement of particle
acceleration by large-scale compressible turbulence relative to previous
estimates in which isotropic particle diffusion is assumed.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Transport of Cosmic Rays in Chaotic Magnetic Fields
The transport of charged particles in disorganised magnetic fields is an
important issue which concerns the propagation of cosmic rays of all energies
in a variety of astrophysical environments, such as the interplanetary,
interstellar and even extra-galactic media, as well as the efficiency of Fermi
acceleration processes. We have performed detailed numerical experiments using
Monte-Carlo simulations of particle propagation in stochastic magnetic fields
in order to measure the parallel and transverse spatial diffusion coefficients
and the pitch angle scattering time as a function of rigidity and strength of
the turbulent magnetic component. We confirm the extrapolation to high
turbulence levels of the scaling predicted by the quasi-linear approximation
for the scattering frequency and parallel diffusion coefficient at low
rigidity. We show that the widely used Bohm diffusion coefficient does not
provide a satisfactory approximation to diffusion even in the extreme case
where the mean field vanishes. We find that diffusion also takes place for
particles with Larmor radii larger than the coherence length of the turbulence.
We argue that transverse diffusion is much more effective than predicted by the
quasi-linear approximation, and appears compatible with chaotic magnetic
diffusion of the field lines. We provide numerical estimates of the Kolmogorov
length and magnetic line diffusion coefficient as a function of the level of
turbulence. Finally we comment on applications of our results to astrophysical
turbulence and the acceleration of high energy cosmic rays in supernovae
remnants, in super-bubbles, and in jets and hot spots of powerful
radio-galaxies.Comment: To be published in Physical Review D, 20 pages 9 figure
Shock Acceleration of Cosmic Rays - a critical review
Motivated by recent unsuccessful efforts to detect the predicted flux of TeV
gamma-rays from supernova remnants, we present a critical examination of the
theory on which these predictions are based. Three crucial problems are
identified: injection, maximum achievable particle energy and spectral index.
In each case significant new advances in understanding have been achieved,
which cast doubt on prevailing paradigms such as Bohm diffusion and
single-fluid MHD. This indicates that more realistic analytical models, backed
by more sophisticated numerical techniques should be employed to obtain
reliable predictions. Preliminary work on incorporating the effects of
anomalous transport suggest that the resulting spectrum should be significantly
softer than that predicted by conventional theory.Comment: 8 pages, invited review presented at the 17th ECRS, Lodz, July 2000;
to appear in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physic