On the origin of very-high-energy photons in astrophysics: A short introduction to acceleration and radiation physics

Martin Lemoine; Guy Pelletier

doi:10.1016/j.crhy.2015.08.012

On the origin of very-high-energy photons in astrophysics: A short introduction to acceleration and radiation physics

Martin Lemoine ¹ ; Guy Pelletier ²

¹ Institut d'astrophysique de Paris, CNRS–UPMC, 98 bis, boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
² Institut de planétologie et d'astrophysique de Grenoble, UJF–Université Grenoble-1/CNRS–INSU, 34, rue de la Piscine, 38000 Grenoble, France

Comptes Rendus. Physique, Gamma-ray astronomy / Astronomie des rayons gamma, Volume 16 (2015) no. 6-7, pp. 628-640.

Abstract
Résumé

Powerful astrophysical sources produce non-thermal spectra of very-high-energy photons, with generic power-law distributions, through various radiative processes of charged particles, e.g., synchrotron radiation, inverse Compton processes, and hadronic interactions. Those charged particles have themselves been accelerated to ultra-relativistic energies in intense electromagnetic fields in the source. In many cases, the exact acceleration scheme is not known, but standard scenarios, such as Fermi mechanisms and reconnection processes are generally considered as prime suspects for the conversion of bulk kinetic or electromagnetic energy into a power law of supra-thermal particles. This paper proposes a short introduction to the various acceleration and radiative processes which shape the distributions of very-high-energy photons ( $ϵ_{γ} ≳ 100 MeV$ ) in astrophysics.

Les sources astrophysiques puissantes sont à l'origine de spectres non thermiques de photons de très haute énergie, généralement caractérisés par des distributions en loi de puissance. Ces photons sont le fruit de processus radiatifs divers de particules chargées primaires, qui interagissent, par exemple, par rayonnement synchrotron, processus Compton inverse ou par des interactions hadroniques. Ces particules chargées ont, quant à elles, été accélérées à des énergies ultra-relativistes dans les champs électromagnétiques intenses des sources. Le mécanisme exact de l'accélération est bien souvent inconnu, mais les processus de Fermi, ou de reconnexion, sont généralement considérés comme des agents idéaux d'une conversion d'énergie d'ensemble, cinétique ou electromagnétique, en énergie de particules supra-thermiques. Cet article propose une brève introduction à la physique de ces processus d'accélération et de rayonnement, à la source des spectres de photons de très haute énergie ( $ϵ_{γ} ≳ 100 MeV$ ) en astrophysique.

Published online: 2015-08-01

DOI: 10.1016/j.crhy.2015.08.012

Keywords: Particle acceleration, Cosmic rays, Gamma-rays, High-energy astrophysics
Mots-clés : Accélération de particules, Rayons cosmiques, Photons gamma, Astrophysique des hautes énergies

Author's affiliations:

Martin Lemoine ¹; Guy Pelletier ²

¹ Institut d'astrophysique de Paris, CNRS–UPMC, 98 bis, boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
² Institut de planétologie et d'astrophysique de Grenoble, UJF–Université Grenoble-1/CNRS–INSU, 34, rue de la Piscine, 38000 Grenoble, France

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     author = {Martin Lemoine and Guy Pelletier},
     title = {On the origin of very-high-energy photons in astrophysics: {A} short introduction to acceleration and radiation physics},
     journal = {Comptes Rendus. Physique},
     pages = {628--640},
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     language = {en},
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Martin Lemoine; Guy Pelletier. On the origin of very-high-energy photons in astrophysics: A short introduction to acceleration and radiation physics. Comptes Rendus. Physique, Gamma-ray astronomy / Astronomie des rayons gamma, Volume 16 (2015) no. 6-7, pp. 628-640. doi : 10.1016/j.crhy.2015.08.012. https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/physique/articles/10.1016/j.crhy.2015.08.012/

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