PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

Abstract

Most high energy cosmic rays (CRs) are thought to be produced by diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in supernova remnants (SNRs) within the Galaxy. Plasma and MHD simulations have shown that the self-excitation of MHD waves and amplification of magnetic fields via plasma instabilities are an integral part of DSA for strong collisionless shocks. In this study we explore how plasma processes such as plasma instabilities and wave-particle interactions can affect the energy spectra of CR protons and electrons, using time-dependent DSA simulations of SNR shocks. We demonstrate that the time-dependent evolution of the shock dynamics, the self-amplified magnetic fields and Alfvenic drift govern the highest energy end of the CR energy spectra. As a result, the spectral cutoffs in nonthermal X-ray and γ-ray radiation spectra are regulated by the evolution of the highest energy particles, which are injected at the early phase of SNRs. We also find that the maximum energy of CR protons can be boosted significantly only if the scale height of the magnetic field precursor is long enough to contain the diffusion lengths of the particles of interests. Thus, detailed understandings of nonlinear wave-particle interactions and time-dependent DSA simulations are crucial for understanding the nonthermal radiation from CR acceleration sources.