The collisional acceleration of relativistic electrons in the central regions of active galactic nuclei

Details The collisional acceleration of relativistic electrons in the central regions of active galactic nuclei The collisional acceleration of relativistic electrons in the central regions of active galactic nuclei

Dec 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991mnras.253..388b&link_type=abstract

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (ISSN 0035-8711), vol. 253, Dec. 1, 1991, p. 388-400.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

3

Active Galactic Nuclei, Electron Acceleration, Electron Scattering, Relativistic Electron Beams, Coulomb Collisions, Electron Energy, Proton Scattering

Scientific paper

The present study investigates the acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies by collision with relativistic protons in the environment of the compact central regions of AGN. Coulomb collisions between the protons and cold electrons form a prominent scattering mechanism: only large-angle scatterings result in relativistic boosts to the electron energy. The electron excitation spectrum is determined, and is found to be generally of a power-law form. Coulomb scattering proves to be an efficient acceleration mechanism, and can provide a significant supply of nonthermal electrons for typical AGN conditions. Bremsstrahlung collisions between the protons and the cold electrons are investigated and are found to contribute insignificantly to the accelerated electron population unless the proton Lorentz factor exceeds about 10,000. It is concluded that the large-angle Coulomb collisional electron reacceleration process is important for pair cascade models of AGN spectra, as it can produce a significant fraction of the total electron injection luminosity.

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