Nonthermal Radiation of Young Supernova Remnants

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new numerical model for simulating particle acceleration and nonthermal radiation in young supernova remnants, specifically applied to RX J1713.7-3946, comparing hadronic and leptonic emission scenarios.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed numerical study of electron and proton acceleration by both shocks in young supernova remnants, incorporating comprehensive spectral and spatial modeling.

Findings

Model reproduces observed spectra from radio to gamma-rays.

Highlights differences between hadronic and leptonic gamma-ray origins.

Suggests a mixed scenario involving dense clouds and inverse Compton processes.

Abstract

A new numerical code, designed for the detailed numerical treatment of nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration, is used for modeling of particle acceleration and radiation in young supernova remnants. The model is based on spherically symmetric hydrodynamic equations complemented with transport equations for relativistic particles. For the first time, the acceleration of electrons and protons by both forward and reverse shocks is studied through detailed numerical calculations. We model the energy spectra and spatial distributions of nonthermal emission of the young supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946 and compare the calculations with the spectral and morphological properties of this object obtained in broad energy band from radio to very high energy gamma-rays. We discuss the advantages and shortcomings of the so-called hadronic and leptonic models which assume that the observed TeV gamma-ray emission is produced by accelerated protons and electrons, respectively. We discuss also a "composite" scenario when the gamma-ray flux from the main parts of the shell has inverse Compton origin, but with a non-negligible contribution of hadronic origin from dense clouds interacting with the shell.