1,734 research outputs found
Time Dependent Modeling of the Markarian 501 X-ray and TeV Gamma-Ray Data Taken During March and April, 1997
If the high-energy emission from TeV blazars is produced by the Synchrotron
Self-Compton (SSC) mechanism, then simultaneous X-ray and Gamma-ray
observations of these objects are a powerful probe of the electron (and/or
positron) populations responsible for this emission. Understanding the emitting
particle distributions and their evolution in turn allow us to probe physical
conditions in the inner blazar jet and test, for example, various acceleration
scenarios. By constraining the SSC emission model parameters, such observations
also allow us to predict the intrinsic (unabsorbed) Gamma-ray spectra of these
sources, a major uncertainty in current attempts to use the observed Gamma-ray
spectra to constrain the intensity of the extragalactic background at
optical/infrared wavelengths. As a next step in testing the SSC model and as a
demonstration of the potential power of coordinated X-ray and Gamma-ray
observations, we attempt to model in detail the X-ray and Gamma-ray light
curves of the TeV Blazar Mrk 501 during its April-May 1997 outburst using a
time dependent SSC emission model. Extensive, quasi-simultaneous X-ray and
gamma-ray coverage exists for this period. We discuss and explore
quantitatively several of the flare scenarios presented in the literature. We
show that simple two-component models (with a soft, steady X-ray component plus
a variable SSC component) involving substantial pre-acceleration of electrons
to Lorentz factors on the order of 1E+5 describe the data train surprisingly
well. All considered models imply an emission region that is strongly out of
equipartition and low radiative efficiencies (ratio between kinetic jet
luminosity and comoving radiative luminosity) of 1 per-mill and less.Comment: 16 pages, Refereed Manuscript. Minor changes to previous versio
Galactic Models of Gamma-Ray Bursts
We describe observational evidence and theoretical calculations which support
the high velocity neutron star model of gamma-ray bursts. We estimate the
energetic requirements in this model, and discuss possible energy sources. we
also consider radiative processes involved in the bursts.Comment: 16 pages Latex file in revtex format. Fourteen postscript figures
come in a separate file. To appear in the Proceedings of the 1995 La Jolla
Workshop "High Velocity Neutron Stars and Gamma-Ray Bursts", eds. R.
Rorschild etal., AIP, New Yor
Closure Relations for Electron-Positron Pair-Signatures in Gamma-Ray Bursts
We present recipes to diagnose the fireball of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) by
combining observations of electron-positron pair-signatures (the
pair-annihilation line and the cutoff energy due to the pair-creation process).
Our recipes are largely model-independent and extract information even from the
non-detection of either pair-signature. We evaluate physical quantities such as
the Lorentz factor, optical depth and pair-to-baryon ratio, only from the
observable quantities. In particular, we can test whether the prompt emission
of GRBs comes from the pair/baryonic photosphere or not. The future-coming
Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) satellite will provide us with
good chances to use our recipes by detecting or non-detecting pair-signatures.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, with extended
discussions. Conclusions unchange
Time dependent numerical model for the emission of radiation from relativistic plasma
We describe a numerical model constructed for the study of the emission of
radiation from relativistic plasma under conditions characteristic, e.g., to
gamma-ray bursts (GRB's) and active galactic nuclei (AGN's). The model solves
self consistently the kinetic equations for e^\pm and photons, describing
cyclo-synchrotron emission, direct Compton and inverse Compton scattering, pair
production and annihilation, including the evolution of high energy
electromagnetic cascades. The code allows calculations over a wide range of
particle energies, spanning more than 15 orders of magnitude in energy and time
scales. Our unique algorithm, which enables to follow the particle
distributions over a wide energy range, allows to accurately derive spectra at
high energies, >100 \TeV. We present the kinetic equations that are being
solved, detailed description of the equations describing the various physical
processes, the solution method, and several examples of numerical results.
Excellent agreement with analytical results of the synchrotron-SSC model is
found for parameter space regions in which this approximation is valid, and
several examples are presented of calculations for parameter space regions
where analytic results are not available.Comment: Minor changes; References added, discussion on observational status
added. Accepted for publication in Ap.
Witnessing the gradual slow-down of powerful extragalactic jets: The X-ray -- optical -- radio connection
A puzzling feature of the {\it Chandra}--detected quasar jets is that their
X-ray emission decreases faster along the jet than their radio emission,
resulting to an outward increasing radio to X-ray ratio. In some sources this
behavior is so extreme that the radio emission peak is located clearly
downstream of that of the X-rays. This is a rather unanticipated behavior given
that the inverse
Compton nature of the X-rays and the synchrotron radio emission are
attributed to roughly the same electrons of the jet's non-thermal electron
distribution. In this note we show that this morphological behavior can result
from the gradual deceleration of a relativistic flow and that the offsets in
peak emission at different wavelengths carry the imprint of this deceleration.
This notion is consistent with another recent finding, namely that the jets
feeding the terminal hot spots of powerful radio galaxies and quasars are still
relativistic with Lorentz factors . The picture of the
kinematics of powerful jets emerging from these considerations is that they
remain relativistic as they gradually decelerate from Kpc scales to the hot
spots, where, in a final collision with the intergalactic medium, they
slow-down rapidly to the subrelativistic velocities of the hot spot advance
speed.Comment: Submitted in ApJ Letters on Jan. 14, 200
Reduced magnetohydrodynamic theory of oblique plasmoid instabilities
The three-dimensional nature of plasmoid instabilities is studied using the
reduced magnetohydrodynamic equations. For a Harris equilibrium with guide
field, represented by \vc{B}_o = B_{po} \tanh (x/\lambda) \hat{y} + B_{zo}
\hat{z}, a spectrum of modes are unstable at multiple resonant surfaces in the
current sheet, rather than just the null surface of the polodial field , which is the only resonant surface in 2D or in
the absence of a guide field. Here is the asymptotic value of the
equilibrium poloidal field, is the constant equilibrium guide field,
and is the current sheet width. Plasmoids on each resonant surface
have a unique angle of obliquity . The resonant
surface location for angle is x_s = - \lambda \arctanh (\tan \theta
B_{zo}/B_{po}), and the existence of a resonant surface requires . The most unstable angle is oblique, i.e. and , in the constant- regime, but parallel, i.e.
and , in the nonconstant- regime. For a fixed angle
of obliquity, the most unstable wavenumber lies at the intersection of the
constant- and nonconstant- regimes. The growth rate of this mode is
, in which
, is the Alfv\'{e}n speed, is the current sheet
length, and is the Lundquist number. The number of plasmoids scales as .Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Physics of Plasma
- …