Nonlinear Diffusive Shock Acceleration with Magnetic Field Amplification

Abstract

We introduce a Monte Carlo model of nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration that allows for the generation of large-amplitude magnetic turbulence, i.e., ΔB B0, where B0 is the ambient magnetic field. 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 B0 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 B 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.