Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-65tv2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-05T17:01:49.760Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relativistic jets and Ccsmic ray acceleration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2013

A. Meli
A. Meli*
Affiliation:
IFPA, Department of Astrophysics and Geophysics, University of Liege, Belgium

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Cosmic rays are accelerated in astrophysical plasmas which collide at supersonic speedswhere shock waves are formed, and along with other instabilities, they compete for thedissipation and acceleration mechanisms. The diffusive acceleration mechanism plays aleading role in the explanation of very high energy cosmic rays observed. In thismechanism, particles are repeatedly gaining energy in multiple crossings of anastrophysical shock discontinuity, due to collisions with upstream and downstream magneticscattering centers, resulting in a power-law spectrum extending up to very high energies.Relativistic jets and their shocks in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is a prominent sourcefor particle acceleration. Especially, relativistic single or multiple shocks have beentheorized and observed along the jets of AGN and are claimed to be responsible foraccelerating even the highest-energy cosmic rays observed. In this paper we will reportand discuss the cosmic ray acceleration efficiency and properties of single or multipleshocks in the limit of relativistic plasmas in AGN jet environments.

References

Références

Achterberg, A., Gallant, Y.A., Kirk, J.G., & Guthmann, A., 2001, MNRAS, 328 , 393 CrossRef
Ampleford, D.J., Jennings, C.A., Lebedev, S.V., Hall, G.N., et al., 2008, APS, APR8HE013
Begelman, Mitchell, C., Fabian, Andrew, C., & Rees, Martin, J., 2008, MNRAS, L384 , 19B CrossRef
Lebedev, S.V., Ciardi, A., Ampleford, D.J., Bland, S.N., et al., 2005, PPCF, 47B , 465
Bell, A.R., 1978, MNRAS, 182 , 147 CrossRef
Blandford, R.D., & Znajek, R.L., 1977, MNRAS, 179 , 433 CrossRef
Kellermann, K.I., Kovalev, Y.Y., Lister, M.L., et al., 2007, Ap&SS, 311 , 231
Keppens, R., Meliani, Z., van der Holst, B., & Casse, F., 2008, A&A, 486 , 663
Marscher, A.P., Jorstad, S.G., D’Arcangelo, F.D., Smith, P.S., et al., 2008, Nature, 452 , 966 CrossRef
Rachen, J.P., & Biermann, P.L., 1993, A&A, 272 , 161
Meli, A., & Quenby, J.J., 2003b, APh, 19 , 649
Meli, A., Becker, J.K., & Quenby, J.J., 2008, A&A, 492 , 323
Meli, A., 2011, Adv. Space Res., 7 , 287
Meli, A., & Biermann, P.L., 2012, A&A, in press
Ginzburg, V.L., & Syrovatskii, S.I., 1963, SvA, 7 , 357
Ellison, & Double, 2004, Astropart. Phys., 22 , 323 CrossRef
Rudnick, L., Katz-Stone, D.M., & Anderson, M.C., 1994, ApJS, 90 , 955 CrossRef
Machalski, J., et al., 2007, A&A, 462 , 43
Niemiec, J., & Ostrowski, M., 2004, ApJ, 610 , 851 CrossRef
Stecker, F.W., Baring, M.G., & Summerlin, E.J., 2007, ApJ, 667 , L29 CrossRef