AbstractThe last 10 years a number of observational advances have substantially increased our knowledge of shock phenomena in supernova remnants. This progress has mainly been made possible by the recent improvements in X-ray and γ-ray instrumentation. It has become clear that some shell-type supernova remnants, e.g., SN 1006, have X-ray emission dominated by synchrotron radiation, proving that electrons are accelerated up to 100 TeV. This is still an order of magnitude below 3×1015 eV, at which energy the ion cosmic-ray spectrum at earth shows a spectral break. So one of the major goals is to test whether supernova remnants are indeed capable of accelerating ions at least up that energy. Here I review the evidence that ions and electrons are accelerated up to energies ∼100 TeV in supernova remnants, and, in addition, the recent progress that has been made in understanding the physics of collisionless shock fronts and the magnetic fields inside supernova remnants.


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    Title :

    Shocks and particle acceleration in supernova remnants: observational features


    Contributors:
    Vink, Jacco (author)

    Published in:

    Advances in Space Research ; 33 , 4 ; 356-365


    Publication date :

    2003-05-23


    Size :

    10 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





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