{"title":"Diffusive Shock Acceleration by Multiple Weak Shocks","authors":"Hyesung Kang","doi":"10.5303/JKAS.2021.54.3.103","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The intracluster medium (ICM) is expected to experience on average about three passages of weak shocks with low sonic Mach numbers, M ≲ 3, during the formation of galaxy clusters. Both protons and electrons could be accelerated to become high energy cosmic rays (CRs) at such ICM shocks via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). We examine the effects of DSA by multiple shocks on the spectrum of accelerated CRs by including in situ injection/acceleration at each shock, followed by repeated re-acceleration at successive shocks in the test-particle regime. For simplicity, the accelerated particles are assumed to undergo adiabatic decompression without energy loss and escape from the system, before they encounter subsequent shocks. We show that in general the CR spectrum is flattened by multiple shock passages, compared to a single episode of DSA, and that the acceleration efficiency increases with successive shock passages. However, the decompression due to the expansion of shocks into the cluster outskirts may reduce the amplification and flattening of the CR spectrum by multiple shock passages. The final CR spectrum behind the last shock is determined by the accumulated effects of repeated re-acceleration by all previous shocks, but it is relatively insensitive to the ordering of the shock Mach numbers. Thus multiple passages of shocks may cause the slope of the CR spectrum to deviate from the canonical DSA power-law slope of the current shock.","PeriodicalId":49994,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Korean Astronomical Society","volume":"54 1","pages":"103-112"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2021-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of the Korean Astronomical Society","FirstCategoryId":"101","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5303/JKAS.2021.54.3.103","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
The intracluster medium (ICM) is expected to experience on average about three passages of weak shocks with low sonic Mach numbers, M ≲ 3, during the formation of galaxy clusters. Both protons and electrons could be accelerated to become high energy cosmic rays (CRs) at such ICM shocks via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). We examine the effects of DSA by multiple shocks on the spectrum of accelerated CRs by including in situ injection/acceleration at each shock, followed by repeated re-acceleration at successive shocks in the test-particle regime. For simplicity, the accelerated particles are assumed to undergo adiabatic decompression without energy loss and escape from the system, before they encounter subsequent shocks. We show that in general the CR spectrum is flattened by multiple shock passages, compared to a single episode of DSA, and that the acceleration efficiency increases with successive shock passages. However, the decompression due to the expansion of shocks into the cluster outskirts may reduce the amplification and flattening of the CR spectrum by multiple shock passages. The final CR spectrum behind the last shock is determined by the accumulated effects of repeated re-acceleration by all previous shocks, but it is relatively insensitive to the ordering of the shock Mach numbers. Thus multiple passages of shocks may cause the slope of the CR spectrum to deviate from the canonical DSA power-law slope of the current shock.
期刊介绍:
JKAS is an international scientific journal publishing papers in all fields of astronomy and astrophysics. All manuscripts are subject to the scrutiny of referees. Manuscripts submitted to JKAS must comply with the ethics policy of JKAS. Six regular issues are published each year on February 28, April 30, June 30, August 31, October 31, and December 31. One year''s issues compose one volume.