Nonthermal emission of supernova remnant SN 1006 revisited: theoretical model and the H.E.S.S. results

TL;DR

This paper revisits the nonthermal emission of supernova remnant SN 1006 using a theoretical model aligned with recent H.E.S.S. gamma-ray observations, revealing insights into cosmic ray acceleration and emission mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a refined nonlinear kinetic model that fits multi-wavelength emission data and explains the bipolar morphology of SN 1006's nonthermal emissions.

Findings

Gamma-ray flux normalization yields hydrogen density ~0.06 cm^{-3}

Hadronic and leptonic gamma-ray emissions are comparable

CR energy at present is about 5% of explosion energy, increasing over time

Abstract

The properties of the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) SN 1006 are theoretically re-analyzed in the light of the recent H.E.S.S. results. Nonlinear kinetic theory is used to determine the momentum spectrum of cosmic rays (CRs) in space and time in the supernova remnant SN 1006. The physical parameters of the model - proton injection rate, electron-to-proton ratio and downstream magnetic field strength - are determined through a fit of the result to the observed spatially-integrated synchrotron emission properties. The only remaining unknown astronomical parameter, the circumstellar gas number density, is determined by a normalization of the amplitude of the gamma-ray flux to the observed amplitude. The bipolar morphology of both nonthermal X-ray and gamma-ray emissions is explained by the preferential injection of suprathermal nuclei and subsequent magnetic field amplification in the quasi-parallel regions of the outer supernova shock. The above parameters provide an improved fit to all existing nonthermal emission data, including the TeV emission spectrum recently detected by H.E.S.S., with the circumstellar hydrogen gas number density $N_H\approx 0.06 cm^{-3}$ close to values derived from observations of thermal X-rays. The hadronic and leptonic gamma-ray emissions are of comparable strength. The overall energy of accelerated CRs at the present epoch is of the order of 5 % of the total hydrodynamic explosion energy, and is predicted to rise with time by a factor of $\approx 2$. The relevance of CR escape from the SNR for the spectrum of the gamma-ray emission is demonstrated. The sum of the results suggests that SN 1006 is a CR source with a high efficiency of nuclear CR production, as required for the Galactic CR sources, both in flux as well as in cutoff energy.