Open AccessA general solution to non‐linear particle acceleration at non‐relativistic shock waves
Author(s) -
Amato E.,
Blasi P.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society: letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.067
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1745-3933
pISSN - 1745-3925
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2005.00110.x
Subject(s) - physics , acceleration , shock (circulatory) , shock wave , particle acceleration , momentum (technical analysis) , diffusion , cosmic ray , momentum diffusion , mach number , shock waves in astrophysics , kinetic energy , particle (ecology) , computational physics , classical mechanics , mechanics , astrophysics , turbulence , quantum mechanics , medicine , oceanography , finance , economics , geology
Diffusive acceleration at collisionless shock waves remains one of the most promising acceleration mechanisms for the description of the origin of cosmic rays at all energies. A crucial ingredient to be taken into account is the reaction of accelerated particles on the shock, which in turn determines the efficiency of the process. Here we propose a semi‐analytical kinetic method that allows us to calculate the shock modification induced by accelerated particles together with the efficiency for particle acceleration and the spectra of accelerated particles. The shock modification is calculated for arbitrary environment parameters (Mach number, maximum momentum, density) and for arbitrary diffusion properties of the medium. Several dependences of the diffusion coefficient on particle momentum and location are considered to assess the accuracy of the method.