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Diagnosing particle acceleration in relativistic jets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2015

Markus Böttcher ,
Matthew G. Baring ,
Edison P. Liang ,
Errol J. Summerlin ,
Wen Fu ,
Ian A. Smith  and
Parisa Roustazadeh
Markus Böttcher
Affiliation:
Centre for Space Research, North-West University Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa email: Markus.Bottcher@nwu.ac.za
Matthew G. Baring
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University MS 108, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
Edison P. Liang
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University MS 108, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
Errol J. Summerlin
Affiliation:
Heliospheric Physics Laboratory, Code 672 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20770, USA
Wen Fu
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University MS 108, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
Ian A. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University MS 108, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
Parisa Roustazadeh
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University MS 108, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA
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Abstract

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The high-energy emission from blazars and other relativistic jet sources indicates that electrons are accelerated to ultra-relativistic (GeV - TeV) energies in these systems. This paper summarizes recent results from numerical studies of two fundamentally different particle acceleration mechanisms potentially at work in relativistic jets: Magnetic-field generation and relativistic particle acceleration in relativistic shear layers, which are likely to be present in relativistic jets, is studied via Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations. Diffusive shock acceleration at relativistic shocks is investigated using Monte-Carlo simulations. The resulting magnetic-field configurations and thermal + non-thermal particle distributions are then used to predict multi-wavelength radiative (synchrotron + Compton) signatures of both acceleration scenarios. In particular, we address how anisotropic shear-layer acceleration may be able to circumvent the well-known Lorentz-factor crisis, and how the self-consistent evaluation of thermal + non-thermal particle populations in diffusive shock acceleration simulations provides tests of the bulk Comptonization model for the Big Blue Bump observed in the SEDs of several blazars.

Keywords

acceleration of particlesradiation mechanisms: nonthermalBL Lacertae objects: individual (AO 0235+164, Mrk 501)gamma rays: theory
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 10 , Issue S313: Extragalactic jets from every angle , September 2014 , pp. 153 - 158
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2015 

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