Using Optical and UV Spectra of Young Supernova Remnants to Study the Physics of Collisionless Shocks

Details Using Optical and UV Spectra of Young Supernova Remnants to Study the Physics of Collisionless Shocks Using Optical and UV Spectra of Young Supernova Remnants to Study the Physics of Collisionless Shocks

Feb 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006sgrb.confe..24g&link_type=abstract

Presented at the KITP Conference: Supernova and Gamma-Ray Burst Remnants, Feb 9, 2006, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics,

Physics

Scientific paper

Our understanding of astrophysical collisionless shocks is limited becausethey occur in conditions too extreme to model in terrestrial laboratories.The plasma processes responsible for heating and isotropizing the electronand ion distributions at the shock front are poorly understood. In caseswhere the collisionless shock is non-radiative (adiabatic) and propagatesinto partially neutralgas, the excitation of cold hydrogen and charge exchange with hot ionsclose to the shock frontproduces both narrow and broad lines in the optical (Balmer emission) andUV (Lyman emission). The excitation of heavy ions (He, C, N and O) alsoproduces broad emission lines in the optical and UV range. I will show howspectroscopy of non-radiative supernova remnants provides valuablediagnostics of the plasma heating processes in highMach number interstellar shocks. The observations can be compared withpredictions from numerical shock models to (1) infer the degree ofelectron-ion and ion-ion temperatureequilibration in collisionless shocks from the emission line widths andflux ratios, and (2) gain clues to the collisionless heatingmechanism(s) from the shapes of the broad hydrogen line profiles.

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