Correlation between Flux and Spectral Index during Flares in Sagittarius A*

Details Correlation between Flux and Spectral Index during Flares in Sagittarius A* Correlation between Flux and Spectral Index during Flares in Sagittarius A*

2006-08-10

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0608232v1

Astrophys.J.661:863-874,2007

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

26 pages, 11 figures

Scientific paper

10.1086/516743

Flares in Sagittarius A* are produced by hot plasmas within a few Schwarzschild radii of the supermassive black hole at the Galactic center. The recent detection of a correlation between the spectral index and flux during a near infrared (NIR) flare provides a means to conduct detailed investigations of the plasma heating and radiation processes. We study the evolution of the electron distribution function under the influence of a turbulent magnetic field in a hot collisionless plasma. The magnetic field, presumably generated through instabilities in the accretion flow, can both heat the plasma via resonant wave-particle coupling and cool the electrons via radiation. The electron distribution can generally be approximated as relativistic Maxwellian. To account for the observed correlation, we find that the magnetic field needs to be anti-correlated with the electron ''temperature''. NIR and X-ray light curves are produced for a cooling and a heating phase. The model predicts simultaneous flare activity in the NIR and X-ray bands, which can be compared with observations. These results can be applied to MHD simulations to study the radiative characteristics of collisionless plasmas, especially accretion flows in low-luminosity AGNs.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Correlation between Flux and Spectral Index during Flares in Sagittarius A* does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Correlation between Flux and Spectral Index during Flares in Sagittarius A*, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Correlation between Flux and Spectral Index during Flares in Sagittarius A* will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-547618