Computer Science
Scientific paper
Aug 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006iaujd...1e...3g&link_type=abstract
Cosmic Particle Acceleration, 26th meeting of the IAU, Joint Discussion 1, 16-17 August, 2006, Prague, Czech Republic, JD01, #3
Computer Science
Scientific paper
I will review the current status of our observational knowledge of prominent classes of particle accelerators in the Galaxy, especially shell-type supernova remnants (SNRs) and pulsar wind nebulae. I will highlight in particular the contribution of the recent improvement in sensitivity of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations, which are currently the most direct probe of particle acceleration in the Galaxy up to energies of several hundreds of TeV. Shell-type SNRs have long been proposed as sources of the Galactic cosmic rays, through Fermi acceleration at their outer blast waves. In recent years, X-ray observations have revealed very thin, non-thermal rims in many young SNRs, and I will discuss the implications of these observations of synchrotron emission from accelerated electrons, in particular for magnetic field amplification and the maximum accelerated particle energy attainable in these shock waves. I will then review the current status of the evidence for high-energy nuclei in these objects, especially in view of recent VHE gamma-ray observations. I will summarise current uncertainties and outline prospects for future progress through greater multi-wavelength studies. As a result of the survey of the Galactic plane in VHE gamma-rays undertaken by the HESS experiment, the most numerous class of identified Galactic VHE sources is currently that of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), also known as plerionic SNRs. In these objects, the VHE gamma-ray emission is generally thought to be dominantly leptonic, and I will outline the complementarity between the results of these observations and the better-known X-ray observations of synchrotron emission. I will discuss the evolutionary problems posed by the large observed sizes of several of the new gamma-ray pulsar wind nebulae, and outline prospects for progress in our understanding of these objects.
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