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Title:
Extremely fast acceleration of cosmic rays in a supernova remnant
Authors:
Uchiyama, Yasunobu; Aharonian, Felix A.; Tanaka, Takaaki; Takahashi, Tadayuki; Maeda, Yoshitomo
Affiliation:
AA(Department of High Energy Astrophysics, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA), 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 229-8510, Japan), AB(Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 5 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland), AC(Department of High Energy Astrophysics, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA), 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 229-8510, Japan), AD(Department of High Energy Astrophysics, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA), 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 229-8510, Japan), AE(Department of High Energy Astrophysics, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA), 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 229-8510, Japan)
Publication:
Nature, Volume 449, Issue 7162, pp. 576-578 (2007). (Nature Homepage)
Publication Date:
10/2007
Origin:
NATURE
DOI:
10.1038/nature06210
Bibliographic Code:
2007Natur.449..576U

Abstract

Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) are widely believed to be accelerated by shock waves associated with the expansion of supernova ejecta into the interstellar medium. A key issue in this long-standing conjecture is a theoretical prediction that the interstellar magnetic field can be substantially amplified at the shock of a young supernova remnant (SNR) through magnetohydrodynamic waves generated by cosmic rays. Here we report a discovery of the brightening and decay of X-ray hot spots in the shell of the SNR RXJ1713.7-3946 on a one-year timescale. This rapid variability shows that the X-rays are produced by ultrarelativistic electrons through a synchrotron process and that electron acceleration does indeed take place in a strongly magnetized environment, indicating amplification of the magnetic field by a factor of more than 100. The X-ray variability also implies that we have witnessed the ongoing shock-acceleration of electrons in real time. Independently, broadband X-ray spectrometric measurements of RXJ1713.7-3946 indicate that electron acceleration proceeds in the most effective (`Bohm-diffusion') regime. Taken together, these two results provide a strong argument for acceleration of protons and nuclei to energies of 1PeV (1015eV) and beyond in young supernova remnants.
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