Colliding-Wind Binaries as a Source of TeV Cosmic Rays
In addition to gamma-ray binaries which contain a compact object, high-energy and very high–energy gamma rays have also been detected from colliding-wind binaries. The collision of the winds produces two strong shock fronts, one for each wind, both surrounding a shock region of compressed and heated...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2021.667805/full |
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| author | Grzegorz Kowal Diego A. Falceta-Gonçalves |
| author_facet | Grzegorz Kowal Diego A. Falceta-Gonçalves |
| author_sort | Grzegorz Kowal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In addition to gamma-ray binaries which contain a compact object, high-energy and very high–energy gamma rays have also been detected from colliding-wind binaries. The collision of the winds produces two strong shock fronts, one for each wind, both surrounding a shock region of compressed and heated plasma, where particles are accelerated to very high energies. Magnetic field is also amplified in the shocked region on which the acceleration of particles greatly depends. In this work, we performed full three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of colliding winds coupled to a code that evolves the kinematics of passive charged test particles subject to the plasma fluctuations. After the run of a large ensemble of test particles with initial thermal distributions, we show that such shocks produce a nonthermal population (nearly 1% of total particles) of few tens of GeVs up to few TeVs, depending on the initial magnetization level of the stellar winds. We were able to determine the loci of fastest acceleration, in the range of MeV/s to GeV/s, to be related to the turbulent plasma with amplified magnetic field of the shock. These results show that colliding-wind binaries are indeed able to produce a significant population of high-energy particles, in relatively short timescales, compared to the dynamical and diffusion timescales. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T11:17:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8e7cca98644042178fd44585f277fbb3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-987X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T11:17:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-8e7cca98644042178fd44585f277fbb32022-12-21T16:58:20ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences2296-987X2021-05-01810.3389/fspas.2021.667805667805Colliding-Wind Binaries as a Source of TeV Cosmic RaysGrzegorz KowalDiego A. Falceta-GonçalvesIn addition to gamma-ray binaries which contain a compact object, high-energy and very high–energy gamma rays have also been detected from colliding-wind binaries. The collision of the winds produces two strong shock fronts, one for each wind, both surrounding a shock region of compressed and heated plasma, where particles are accelerated to very high energies. Magnetic field is also amplified in the shocked region on which the acceleration of particles greatly depends. In this work, we performed full three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of colliding winds coupled to a code that evolves the kinematics of passive charged test particles subject to the plasma fluctuations. After the run of a large ensemble of test particles with initial thermal distributions, we show that such shocks produce a nonthermal population (nearly 1% of total particles) of few tens of GeVs up to few TeVs, depending on the initial magnetization level of the stellar winds. We were able to determine the loci of fastest acceleration, in the range of MeV/s to GeV/s, to be related to the turbulent plasma with amplified magnetic field of the shock. These results show that colliding-wind binaries are indeed able to produce a significant population of high-energy particles, in relatively short timescales, compared to the dynamical and diffusion timescales.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2021.667805/fullstars: Wolf–Rayetstellar windsgamma-ray sourcesparticle astrophysicscosmic raysturbulence |
| spellingShingle | Grzegorz Kowal Diego A. Falceta-Gonçalves Colliding-Wind Binaries as a Source of TeV Cosmic Rays Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences stars: Wolf–Rayet stellar winds gamma-ray sources particle astrophysics cosmic rays turbulence |
| title | Colliding-Wind Binaries as a Source of TeV Cosmic Rays |
| title_full | Colliding-Wind Binaries as a Source of TeV Cosmic Rays |
| title_fullStr | Colliding-Wind Binaries as a Source of TeV Cosmic Rays |
| title_full_unstemmed | Colliding-Wind Binaries as a Source of TeV Cosmic Rays |
| title_short | Colliding-Wind Binaries as a Source of TeV Cosmic Rays |
| title_sort | colliding wind binaries as a source of tev cosmic rays |
| topic | stars: Wolf–Rayet stellar winds gamma-ray sources particle astrophysics cosmic rays turbulence |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2021.667805/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT grzegorzkowal collidingwindbinariesasasourceoftevcosmicrays AT diegoafalcetagoncalves collidingwindbinariesasasourceoftevcosmicrays |