Model images of radio halos around supernova remnants
I present model calculations of profiles and two-dimensional images of the radio synchrotron emission of young supernova remnants, concentrating on observable effects of relativistic eletrons diffusing upstream of the shock wave. If the preshock electron scattering mean free path is sufficiently long, observable synchrotron halos outside the bulk of the radio emission can potentially result; their absence can constrain the mean free path from above. If scattering is primarily due, as expected, to Alfven waves with amplitude detla(B), the halo is expected to extend a distance of order r(sub g)c(delta(B)/B)(exp 2)/v(sub s) beyond the shock, where r(sub g) is the gyroradius of the electrons emitting at the observed frequency, B is the upstream magnetic field strength, v(sub s) is the shock velocity, and the amplitude delta(B) refers to wave with wavelength comparable to r(sub g), of order 10(exp 13) cm for typical supernova-remnant parameters. However, the detailed geometry of the halo varies with the assumptions about particle acceleration in the shock wave. I present an atlas of model profiles and images as a function of preshock diffusion length, of aspect angle between the magnetic field and the line of sight, and of other relevant parameters.