Spectrum of Galactic Radio Emission

Abstract

THE general radio emission, from the Galaxy has now been accounted for as the synchrotron radiation of high-energy electrons in a magnetic field. An unsatisfactory aspect of this explanation is the relation between the observed radio spectral index α, where radio flux is proportional to (wave-length)α, and the expected energy spectrum of the cosmic-ray electrons, the number density of which should also vary exponentially according to (energy)−(1+S). In these circumstances the indices are related by α = S/2.