Angular Dependence of Jitter Radiation Spectra from Small-Scale Magnetic Turbulence

TL;DR

This study investigates how the spectra of jitter radiation depend on magnetic turbulence properties, revealing anisotropic effects, spectral features, and viewing angle sensitivities crucial for interpreting gamma-ray burst observations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the angular dependence of jitter radiation spectra in anisotropic magnetic turbulence, highlighting key spectral features and their relation to magnetic field properties.

Findings

Spectra reflect magnetic field spatial distribution.

Radiation is anisotropic and viewing-angle dependent.

Presence of high-frequency power-law tail even for monoenergetic electrons.

Abstract

Jitter radiation is produced by relativistic electrons moving in turbulent small-scale magnetic fields such as those produced by streaming Weibel-type instabilities at collisionless shocks in weakly magnetized media. Here we present a comprehensive study of the dependence of the jitter radiation spectra on the properties of, in general, anisotropic magnetic turbulence. We have obtained that the radiation spectra do reflect, to some extent, properties of the magnetic field spatial distribution, yet the radiation field is anisotropic and sensitive to the viewing direction with respect to the field anisotropy direction. We explore the parameter space of the magnetic field distribution and its effect on the radiation spectrum. Some important results include: the presence of the harder-than-synchrotron segment below the peak frequency at some viewing angles, the presence of the high-frequency power-law tail even for a monoenergetic distribution of electrons, the dependence of the peak frequency on the field correlation length rather than the field strength, the strong correlation of the spectral parameters with the viewing angle. In general, we have found that even relatively minor changes in the magnetic field properties can produce very significant effects upon the jitter radiation spectra. We consider these results to be important for accurate interpretation of prompt gamma-ray burst spectra and possibly other sources.