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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2007

X-Ray, UV, and Optical Observations of Supernova 2006bp with Swift: Detection of Early X-Ray Emission

We present results on the X-ray and optical/UV emission from the Type IIP supernova (SN) 2006bp and the interaction of the SW shock with its environment, obtained with the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on-board the Swift observatory. SN 2006bp is detected in X-rays at a 4.5 sigmalevel of significance in the merged XRT data from days 1 to 12 after the explosion. If the (0.2-10 keV band) X-ray luminosity of L(sub 0.2-10) = (1.8 plus or minus 0.4) x l0(exp 39 ergs s(exp -1) is caused by interaction of the SN shock with circumstellar material (CSM), deposited by a stellar wind from the progenitor's companion star, a mass-loss rate of M is approximately 2x10(exp -6) solar mass yr(exp -1) (v(sub w)/10 km s(exp -l) is inferred. The mass-loss rate is one of the lowest ever recorded for a core-collapse SN and consistent with the non-detection in the radio with the VLA on days 2, 9, and 11 after the explosion. The Swift data further show a fading of the X-ray emission starting around day 12 after the explosion. In combination with a follow-up XMM-Newton observation obtained on day 21 after the explosion, an X-ray rate of decline Lx, varies as t(exp -n) with index n = 1.2 plus or minus 0.6 is inferred. Since no other SN has been detected in X-rays prior to the optical peak and since Type IIP SNe have an extended 'plateau' phase in the optical, we discuss the scenario that the X-rays might be due to inverse Compton scattering of photospheric optical photons off relativistic electrons produced in circumstellar shocks. However, due to the high required value of the Lorentz factor (approximately 10-100), inconsistent with the ejecta velocity inferred from optical line widths, we conclude that Inverse Compton scattering is an unlikely explanation for the observed X-ray emission. The fast evolution of the optical/ultraviolet (1900-5500A) spectral energy distribution and the spectral changes observed with Swift reveal the onset of metal line-blanketing and cooling of the expanding photosphere during the first few weeks after the outburst.

Immler, S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Synchrotron and inverse Compton emission from expanding sources in jets - Application to SS 433

The formalism for an expanding source is extended to include continuous injection of electrons and the production of X-rays by inverse Compton scattering of external photons and synchrotron-self-Compton scattering. The model is applied to the expanding nonthermal sources entrained in the jets of SS 433. These sources are found capable of producing both the flaring radio component and the X-ray fluxes only if the relativistic electrons and the magnetic field are far out of equipartition. If the expanding source in the jets is in equipartition, the X-rays may originate from a stationary source within the binary system, which is self-absorbed at radio frequencies and produces X-rays by inverse Compton scattering of optical photons from the binary.

Band, David L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The expected high-energy to ultra-high-energy gamma-ray spectrum of the Crab Nebula

The inverse Compton scattering model for the unpulsed TeV emission from the Crab Nebula is reexamined using the magnetic field distribution derived from MHD flow models of the nebula. It is shown that the observed flux can be explained if the average nebular field is indeed about 0.0003, as is predicted by the spectral break between radio and optical. The brightness distribution of the TeV gamma-ray signal is expected to extend out to about 1.5 arcmin from the pulsar. The present estimates predict a steady flux of unpulsed ultrahigh-energy gamma-rays due to the inverse Compton scattering of soft photons by shock-accelerated electrons and/or positrons in the vicinity of the shock.

De Jager, O. C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Reconnection-driven Flares in M87*: Proton–Synchrotron-powered GeV Emission

Magnetic reconnection in current layers that form intermittently in radiatively inefficient accretion flows onto black holes is a promising mechanism for particle acceleration and high-energy emission. It has been recently proposed that such layers, arising during flux eruption events, can power the rapid TeV flares observed from the core of M87. In this scenario, inverse-Compton scattering of soft radiation from the accretion flow by energetic electron–positron pairs produced near the reconnection layer was suggested as the primary emission mechanism. However, detailed calculations show that radiation from pairs alone cannot account for the GeV emission detected by the Fermi observatory. In this work, we combine analytic estimates with 3D radiative particle-in-cell simulations of pair–proton plasmas to show that the GeV emission can be naturally explained by synchrotron radiation from protons accelerated in the current sheet. Although the exact proton content of the layer is uncertain, our model remains robust across a broad range of proton-to-pair number density ratios. While protons are subdominant in number compared to pairs, our simulations demonstrate that they can be accelerated more efficiently, leading to a self-regulated steady state in which protons dominate the energy budget. Ultimately, proton synchrotron emission accounts for approximately 5%–20% of the total dissipation power. The majority is radiated as MeV photons via pair synchrotron emission, with a smaller fraction emitted as TeV photons through inverse-Compton scattering.

Active galactic nuclei↗
NASA NTRS1995

Resonant Compton scattering and gamma-ray burst continuum spectra

The Thomson limit of resonant inverse Compton scattering in the strong magnetic fields of neutron stars is considered as a mechanism for producing gamma-ray burst continuum spectra. Photon production spectra and electron cooling rates are presented using the full magnetic Thomson cross-section. Model emission spectra are obtained as self-consistent solutions of a set of photon and electron kinetic equations, displaying spectral breaks and other structure at gamma-ray energies.

Baring, M. G.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Polarization of inverse plasmon scattering

The scattering of electrostatic plasma waves by a flux of ultrarelativistic electrons passing through a plasma gives rise to a radiation spectrum which is similar to a synchrotron radiation spectrum. This mechanism, first considered by Gailitis and Tsytovich, is analagous to inverse Compton scattering, and we have named it inverse plasmon scattering. For a power-law electron flux, both inverse plasmon scattering and synchrotron radiation have the same spectral index. In an attempt to distinguish between these mechanisms, we have calculated the polarization level expected from inverse plasmon scattering. The polarization level found is similar to that obtained from a synchrotron radiation source. This means that the radiation produced by two mechanisms, synchrotron radiation and inverse plasmon scattering, is indistinguishable; and this attempt to differentiate between them by polarization effects has been unsuccessful.

Windsor, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Global effects of thermal conduction on two-phase media

The evolution of two-phase systems of astrophysical gases which change mass between the phases is studied to see whether a steady state is ever reached. The criterion for thermal instability in a cloudy medium is derived. The evolution of the pressure and density of the intercloud medium under the combined effects of heating and radiative cooling of the intercloud gas on the one hand and evaporation and condensation of the clouds on the other is determined. The equilibrium density to which the system evolves is determined for the case when the pressure is fixed. The theory is illustrated by the case in which the intercloud gas is heated by Compton scattering in a hard radiation field and cooled by bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering.

Begelman, Mitchell C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Constraints on electron acceleration in the Crab nebula

Using the radio through hard X-ray images of the Crab nebula to derive the spatial dependence of the electron spectrum and the magnetic field distribution from MHD flow models, we have rederived the high-energy spectrum of inverse Compton scattered gamma rays. We find agreement with the observed spectrum at TeV energies, but it is clear that the inverse Compton flux does not contribute significantly to the unpulsed nebular emission observed by COS-B from 50 to 500 MeV, which is consistent with a smooth continuation of the spectrum in hard X-rays. The emission at these energies must therefore be due to synchrotron radiation by electrons of at least PeV energies. It appears that the emission in the high-energy gamma-ray range, sensitive to the highest energy electrons in the nebula, can put interesting constraints on the acceleration mechanism.

Harding, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1996

3C 279 Multiwavelength Monitoring: The Ground-Based Campaign - 2

The optically violently variable quasar 3C 279 was monitored simultaneously from radio to gamma-ray frequencies in 1992 December - 1993 January. We report a detailed study of the ground-based results from radio to optical wavelengths. These data show that 3C 279 has a typical blazar spectrum, slightly rising at radio frequency and then progressively steeper above a first turnover frequency between 37 and 90 GHz. In the millimeter wavelength region, a simple power law is not an adequate description of the spectrum. We suggest that the millimeter "shoulder" corresponds to an additional emission component, self-absorbed between 150 and 375 GHz, possibly associated with the detachment of a new Very Long Base Interferometry (VLBI) knot and with the start of radio flare. A flux increase of 20% over 20 days was observed at 37 and 90 GHz, while contemporaneously the R-band flux doubled in about two weeks. The lack of strong variability in contemporaneous X-ray light curves (possible X-ray variations are less than 30%) implies no direct (i.e., zero lag) correlation between the optical and X-ray fluxes. If X-rays are produced by inverse-Compton scattering of relativistic electrons on some seed photons, the above results exclude that the observed optical photons are the seeds and/or that the relativistic electrons radiating via synchrotron in the optical band are responsible for the scattering to X-ray energies. We suggest that the X-rays are instead produced through the inverse-Compton process by electrons of lower energy, which radiate via synchrotron in the radio to millimeter wave bands and which scatter either on the synchrotron photons themselves or on external photons.

Grandi, P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Expected level of self-Compton scattering in radio loud quasars

Radio-loud quasars usually contain parsec-scale nonthermal jets. The most compact emission region ('the core'), and perhaps some of the moving 'knots', are expected to be efficient producers of inverse Compton scattered X-rays and gamma-rays since many of the synchrotron photons will upscatter before escaping. Through multifrequency flux density observations and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measurements of angular sizes, one can predict the flux density of this self-Compton high-energy emission. It is not always the case that the brightest synchrotron sources are also the brightest X-ray and gamma-ray sources. Perhaps a better predictor of high-energy brightness is the ratio of hard X-ray to high-frequency radio emission. Using the synchrotron self-Compton relations, we predict the gamma-ray fluxes of several sources we expect to be detected by the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET). More accurate predictions will be made when we complete a program of contemporaneous radio-submillimeter and X-ray observations during the course of the EGRET all-sky survey.

Bloom, Steven D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Compton scattering and the gamma-ray power-law spectrum in Markarian 421

The nearest BL Lac object, Mrk 421, has a gamma-ray spectrum which is approximately flat in EF-sub E from E less than about 50 MeV to E greater than about 1 TeV. Inverse Compton scattering can explain this smooth spectrum, despite the structure in the Klein-Nishina cross section, if the injected electron distribution function is proportional to gamma exp -2, where gamma is the electron Lorentz factor. When this is the case, the structure imprinted on the steady state electron distribution function by the structure in the Klein-Nishina cross section is almost exactly compensated in the radiated spectrum. Because particle acceleration in strong shocks injects particles with this distribution function, this shape injection function is in fact quite plausible. Other blazars may be explained by the same model if the cutoff below TeV energies observed in other objects is due to pair production on the cosmological IR background, as suggested by Stecker et al. (1992).

Zdziarski, Andrzej A.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Fermi-Compton scattering due to magnetopause surface fluctuations in Jupiter's magnetospheric cavity

The effects of boundary surface fluctuations on a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation trapped in a high Q (quality) cavity are considered. Undulating walls introduce small frequency shifts at reflection to the radiation, and it is argued that the process is entirely analogous to both Fermi (particle) acceleration and inverse Compton scattering. A Fokker-Planck formalism is pursued; it yields a diffusion equation in frequency for which the Green's function and steady-state solutions are found. Applying this analysis to the Jovian continuum radiation discovered by Voyager spacecraft, it is suggested that characteristic diffusion times are greater than 1 year, and that in order to account for the steep frequency spectra observed, an unidentified loss mechanism must operate in the cavity with a decay time constant approximately equal to the characteristic diffusion time divided by 28. A radiator-reactor model of the cavity is investigated to provide an estimate for the intrinsic luminosity of the low frequency (approximately 100 Hz) continuum source whose power is approximately 7 x 10 to the 6th W.

Barbosa, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Pulsar Polar Cap Heating and Surface Thermal X-ray Emission: Inverse Compton Radiation Pair Fronts - 2

We investigate the production of electron-positron pairs by inverse Compton scattered (ICS) photons above a pulsar polar cap (PC) and calculate surface heating by returning positrons. This paper is a continuation of our self-consistent treatment of acceleration, pair dynamics, and electric field screening above pulsar PCs. We calculate the altitude of the inverse Compton pair-formation fronts, the flux of returning positrons, and present the heating efficiencies and X-ray luminosities. We revise pulsar death lines implying cessation of pair formation, and present them in surface magnetic field-period space. We find that virtually all known radio pulsars are capable of producing pairs by resonant and nonresonant ICS photons radiated by particles accelerated above the PC in a pure star-centered dipole field, so that our ICS pair death line coincides with empirical radio pulsar death. Our calculations show that ICS pairs are able to screen the accelerating electric field only for high PC surface temperatures and magnetic fields. We argue that such screening at ICS pair fronts occurs locally, slowing but not turning off acceleration of particles until screening can occur at a curvature radiation (CR) pair front at higher altitude. In the case where no screening occurs above the PC surface, we anticipate that the pulsar gamma-ray luminosity will be a substantial fraction of its spin-down luminosity. The X-ray luminosity resulting from PC heating by ICS pair fronts is significantly lower than the PC heating luminosity from CR pair fronts, which dominates for most pulsars. PC heating from ICS pair fronts is highest in millisecond pulsars, which cannot produce CR pairs, and may account for observed thermal X-ray components in the spectra of these old pulsars.

Harding, Alice K.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Gamma-ray sources as Comptonized X-ray sources

The possible contribution of Compton scattering to the formation of gamma-ray burst spectra is analyzed. Monte Carlo calculations are used to study the spectral distribution emerging from a plasma at temperatures typical of gamma-ray burst spectra (above 100 keV) with an underlying source of photons reprocessed by inverse Compton scattering surrounding a point source of blackbody radiation. Comparison of the computations with the observed spectrum of the burst GB781104 results in a best fit with a blackbody X-ray source at 2.4 keV, plasma temperature of about 150 eV and plasma column density of 4 x 10 to the 24th electrons/sq cm. The Comptonization model is also shown to be capable of accounting for the two-component spectra observed for bursts GB790329 and GB790524, and the moving low-energy spectral cut-off in the burst of November 18, 1978.

Fenimore, E. E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The inverse Compton gamma-ray spectrum of the Crab nebula

The observed TeV flux from the Crab can be explained by inverse Compton scattering in the nebula if the average nebular field is indeed approximately equal to 0.0003 G as is predicted by the spectral break between radio and optical. The estimated spectral index at TeV energies also agrees with the observed value. The unpulsed high energy gamma-rays seen by COS-B are not explained by this inverse Compton component but can be explained by synchrotron radiation requiring electrons up to at least 10 exp 16 eV, most likely accelerated at the shock in the pulsar wind. The detection of a spectral depression at about 1 GeV would allow an estimate of the maximum electron energy. The flux estimates also predict the detection of a steady flux of unpulsed UHE gamma-rays from near the shock with sensitive detectors if the field strength increases downstream with increasing radius as is predicted by MHD theory.

De Jager, O. C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

X-Ray Spectra from General Relativistic Radiation Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Thin Disks

We compare X-ray emission from several general relativistic, multifrequency, radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations of thin black hole accretion disks with different accretion rates and spins. The simulations were performed using the M1 closure scheme, resolved with 12 frequency (energy) bins logarithmically spaced from 5 × 10 −3 to 5 × 10 3 ​​​ keV. We apply a general relativistic Monte Carlo transport code to postprocess the simulation data with greater fidelity in frequency resolution and Compton scattering treatment. Despite the relatively few energy bins and Kompaneets approximation to Compton scattering utilized in the M1 method, we find generally good agreement between the methods. Both produce prominent thermal profiles with peaks around 2–2.5 keV, where agreement is particularly strong and representative of the soft state. Both also find weaker (lower-luminosity) thermally sourced emission extending out to 100 keV due to the hotter innermost regions of the disks. Inverse Compton scattering becomes increasingly effective at hardening spectral outputs with increasing black hole spin, and becomes the dominant mechanism for photons that escape with energies between 10 to several hundred keV. At very high rates of spin, the radiation flux in this upscattered component becomes comparable to the thermal flux, a phenomenon typically associated with intermediate states. Beyond 10 4 keV, we observe faint, free–free emission from hot, optically thin coronal regions developing near the horizon, common to both spinning and nonspinning black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Inverse Compton X-ray emission from the superluminal quasar 3C 345

In quasars with strong radio cores, the inverse-Compton process is believed to be the dominant source X-ray emission. For objects with parsec-scale radio jets, simple models have predicted that components in the jet emerging from the quasar nucleus generate the observed X-ray emission. We have tested this hypothesis in detail for the quasar 3C 345 using a ROSAT X-ray observation in 1990 July, together with quasi-simultaneous very long base interferometry (VLBI) imaging of the parsec-scale jet at five frequencies. The ROSAT spectrum is well fitted by a power law with index alpha = -0.96 +/- -0.13, consistent with models in which the X-ray emission results from inverse-Compton scattering of radio radiation from high-energy electrons in compact components. We show that the radio properties of brightest `knot' in the jet (`C5') can be fitted with a homogeneous sphere model whose parameters require bulk relativistic motion of the emitting material; otherwise the predicted model whose parameters require bulk relativistic motion of the emitting material; otherwise the predicted inverse-Compton X-ray emission exceeds the observed flux. If C5 is the origin of the X-ray emission, then it has a Doppler factor delta = 7.5((sup +3 sub -2)). If the nucleus or other components contribute to the X-ray emission, then this becomes a firm lower limit to delta. The inhomogeneous jet model of Koenigl is a good fit both to the barely resolved (less than 1 pc) flat-spectrum nucleus in the radio, and also to the ROSAT X-ray spectrum. The synchrotron and inverse-Compton emitting fluid moves down a narrow cone (opening angle 2 phi approximately 5 deg) nucleus relativistically, with delta approximately 4.6. Doppler factors for the nucleus and C5, derived from our ROSAT observation, provide evidence for bulk relativistic motion in the jet. By combining these constraints with well-known superluminal motion of jet components, we can deduce geometry. For epoch 1990.5 we infer the Lorentz factor gamma = 7.5 ((sup +1.0 sub -1.5)) and angle to the line of sight theta = 8((sup +2 deg sub -3 deg)) for H(sub 0) = 100 km/s/Mpc. These values are the most reliable yet derived using this method, because of the near-simultaneity of our X-ray and VLBI observations and the quality of the multifrequency of VLBI images and component radio spectra.

Unwin, S. C.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Non-Thermal Hard X-Ray Emission in Galaxy Clusters Observed with the BeppoSAX PDS

We study the X-ray emission in a Sample of galaxy clusters using the BeppoSAX PDS instrument in the 20 - 80 keV energy band. We estimate the non-thermal hard X-ray cluster emission (HXR) by modeling the thermal contribution from the cluster gas and the non-thermal contamination from the unobscured AGN in the clusters. We also evaluate the systematic uncertainties due to the background fluctuations. Assuming negligible contamination from the obscured AGN, the resulting non-thermal component is detected at a 2 sigma level in approx. 50% of the non-significantly AGN-contaminated clusters: A2142, A2199, A2256, A3376, Coma, Ophiuchus and Virgo. The data are consistent with a scenario whereby relaxed clusters have no hard X-ray component of non-thermal origin, whereas merger clusters do. The co-added spectrum of the above clusters indicates a power-law spectrum for the HXR with a photon index of 2.8+0.3-0.4 in the 12 - 115 keV band, and we find indication that it has extended distribution. These indications argue against significant contamination from obscured AGN, which have harder spectra and centrally concentrated distribution. These results are supportive of the assumption of the merger shock acceleration of electrons in clusters, which has been proposed as a possible origin of the non-thermal hard X-ray emission models. Assuming that the Cosmic Microwave Background photons experience Inverse Compton scattering from the merger-accelerated relativistic electrons, and thus produce the observed HXR, the measured hard X-ray slope corresponds to a differential momentum spectra of the relativistic electrons with a slope of mu = 3.8 - 5.0. In presence of cluster magnetic fields this relativistic electron population produces synchrotron emission with a spectral index of 1.4 - 2.1, consistent with radio halo observations of merger clusters. Thus both hard X-ray and radio observations of merger clusters are consistent with the Inverse Compton model. The observed slope of HXR is also consistent with that predicted by the non-thermal bremsstrahlung, which chus cannot be ruled by the fit to the current data, even though this model requires an extreme, untenable cluster energetics. Assuming centrally concentrated distribution of HXR, the data requires a harder slope for the HXR spectrum, which is consistent with secondary electron models, but this model yields a worse fit to the PDS data and thus seems to be disfavored over the primary electron Inverse Compton model.

Nevalainen, J.↗