9,382 research outputs found
Ultrahard spectra of PeV neutrinos from supernovae in compact star clusters
Starburst regions with multiple powerful winds of young massive stars and
supernova remnants are favorable sites for high-energy cosmic ray acceleration.
A supernova shock colliding with a fast wind from a compact cluster of young
stars allows the acceleration of protons to energies well above the standard
limits of diffusive shock acceleration in an isolated SN. The proton spectrum
in such a wind-supernova PeV accelerator is hard with a large flux in the
high-energy-end of the spectrum producing copious gamma-rays and neutrinos in
inelastic nuclear collisions. We argue that SN shocks in the Westerlund 1
cluster in the Milky Way may accelerate protons to about 40 PeV. Once
accelerated, these CRs will diffuse into surrounding dense clouds and produce
neutrinos with fluxes sufficient to explain a fraction of the events detected
by IceCube Observatory from the inner Galaxy.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, MNRAS v.453, p.113-121, 201
Time's Barbed Arrow: Irreversibility, Crypticity, and Stored Information
We show why the amount of information communicated between the past and
future--the excess entropy--is not in general the amount of information stored
in the present--the statistical complexity. This is a puzzle, and a
long-standing one, since the latter is what is required for optimal prediction,
but the former describes observed behavior. We layout a classification scheme
for dynamical systems and stochastic processes that determines when these two
quantities are the same or different. We do this by developing closed-form
expressions for the excess entropy in terms of optimal causal predictors and
retrodictors--the epsilon-machines of computational mechanics. A process's
causal irreversibility and crypticity are key determining properties.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Galactic Cosmic Rays from Supernova Remnants: II Shock Acceleration of Gas and Dust
This is the second paper (the first was astro-ph/9704267) of a series
analysing the Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) composition and origin. In this we
present a quantitative model of GCR origin and acceleration based on the
acceleration of a mixture of interstellar and/or circumstellar gas and dust by
supernova remnant blast waves. We present results from a nonlinear shock model
which includes (i) the direct acceleration of interstellar gas-phase ions, (ii)
a simplified model for the direct acceleration of weakly charged dust grains to
energies of order 100keV/amu simultaneously with the gas ions, (iii) frictional
energy losses of the grains colliding with the gas, (iv) sputtering of ions of
refractory elements from the accelerated grains and (v) the further shock
acceleration of the sputtered ions to cosmic ray energies. The calculated GCR
composition and spectra are in good agreement with observations.Comment: to appear in ApJ, 51 pages, LaTeX with AAS macros, 9 postscript
figures, also available from ftp://wonka.physics.ncsu.edu/pub/elliso
Nonlinear Diffusive Shock Acceleration with Magnetic Field Amplification
We introduce a Monte Carlo model of nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration
allowing for the generation of large-amplitude magnetic turbulence. The model
is the first to include strong wave generation, efficient particle acceleration
to relativistic energies in nonrelativistic shocks, and thermal particle
injection in an internally self-consistent manner. We find that the upstream
magnetic field can be amplified by large factors and show that this
amplification depends strongly on the ambient Alfven Mach number. We also show
that in the nonlinear model large increases in the magnetic field do not
necessarily translate into a large increase in the maximum particle momentum a
particular shock can produce, a consequence of high momentum particles
diffusing in the shock precursor where the large amplified field converges to
the low ambient value. To deal with the field growth rate in the regime of
strong fluctuations, we extend to strong turbulence a parameterization that is
consistent with the resonant quasi-linear growth rate in the weak turbulence
limit. We believe our parameterization spans the maximum and minimum range of
the fluctuation growth and, within these limits, we show that the nonlinear
shock structure, acceleration efficiency, and thermal particle injection rates
depend strongly on the yet to be determined details of wave growth in strongly
turbulent fields. The most direct application of our results will be to
estimate magnetic fields amplified by strong cosmic-ray modified shocks in
supernova remnants.Comment: Accepted in ApJ July 2006, typos corrected in this versio
Investigating Candidates’ Research Experience Beyond the Thesis: The Peripheral World of the Doctorate
This article focuses on both the process and the results of a recently completed research project that concentrated on what are commonly seen as peripheral aspects of the doctorate; that is, aspects of candidature that lie beyond, and outside of, the core work of what is widely understood to be research training. The project saw 18 candidates from the creative arts and humanities – and creative writing in particular – gather to reflect upon their learning journeys, and then analyse and theorise the ‘human’ dimensions of undertaking a doctorate. These often peripheral aspects were revealed to have a major influence on undertaking a research degree, as well as affecting candidates’ progress and satisfaction with their studies, and career potential beyond the research degree. This article first outlines how candidates were able to develop a language with which to identify some of the major human dimensions – the lived experience – of undertaking a doctorate that emerged from the project. It then explores how candidates were able to articulate their own growth in the form of producing an edited collection of essays in order that others might benefit from this reflective learning
Particle Acceleration in Supernova Remnants and the Production of Thermal and Nonthermal Radiation
If highly efficient, cosmic ray production can have a significant effect on
the X-ray emission from SNRs as well as their dynamical evolution. Using
hydrodynamical simulations including diffusive shock acceleration, we produce
spectra for both the thermal and nonthermal forward shock emission. For a given
ambient density and explosion energy, we find that the position of the forward
shock at a given age is a strong function of the acceleration efficiency,
providing a signature of cosmic-ray production. Using an approximate treatment
for the ionization state of the plasma, we investigate the effects of slow vs.
rapid heating of the postshock electrons on the ratio of thermal to nonthermal
X-ray emission at the forward shock. We also investigate the effects of
magnetic field strength on the observed spectrum for efficient cosmic-ray
acceleration. The primary effect of a large field is a considerable flattening
of the nonthermal spectrum in the soft X-ray band. Spectral index measurements
from X-ray observations may thus be indicators of the postshock magnetic field
strength. The predicted gamma-ray flux from inverse-Compton (IC) scattering and
neutral pion decay is strongly affected by the ambient conditions and, for the
particular parameters used in our examples, the IC emission at E ~ 1 TeV
exceeds that from pion decay, although at both lower and higher energies this
trend is reversed for cases of high ambient density. More importantly, high
magnetic fields produce a steepening of the electron spectrum over a wide
energy range which may make it more difficult to differentiate between IC and
pion-decay emission solely by spectral shape.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, submitted to ApJ January 200
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