A Mechanism for Electron-Proton Temperature Equilibration in Collisionless Shocks

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

The analysis of Balmer-dominated optical spectra from non-radiative (adiabatic) SNRs has shown that the ratio of the electron to proton temperature at the blast wave is close to unity at shock speeds below 400 km/s, but declines sharply down to the the mass proportional value (1/1836) at shock speeds exceeding 2000 km/s. We propose a physical model for the heating of electrons and ions in non-cosmic ray dominated, strong shocks (> 400 km/s) wherein the electrons are heated by lower hybrid waves immediately ahead of the shock front. These waves arise naturally from the cosmic ray pressure gradient upstream from the shock. The model predicts a nearly constant level of electron heating over a wide range of shock speeds, resulting in an inverse square relationship between T(electon)/T(proton) and shock speed that is fully consistent with the observations.

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