1999/05/14 by Luke O'C Drury, L. O’C. Drury, Drury, Luke O'C +7 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9905178
6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics
arxiv created 1999/05/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
The recent detection of high energy gamma-rays coming from supernova remnants and active galactic nuclei has revived interest in the diffusive shock acceleration of electrons. In the present paper we examine the basis of the so-called ``box'' model for particle acceleration and present a more physical version of it. Using this we determine simple criteria for the conditions under which ``pile-ups'' can occur in shock accelerated electron spectra subject to synchrotron or inverse Compton losses (the latter in the Thompson limit). An extension to include nonlinear effects is proposed.