Proton Acceleration in Weak Quasi-parallel Intracluster Shocks: Injection and Early Acceleration

TL;DR

This study uses particle-in-cell simulations to investigate how weak intracluster shocks accelerate cosmic ray protons, revealing that efficient acceleration occurs only above a certain shock strength, which may explain the lack of observed gamma-ray emissions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the injection and early acceleration mechanisms of CR protons in weak, high-beta shocks in the intracluster medium, highlighting the importance of shock strength.

Findings

CR proton acceleration is efficient only for shocks with Mach number > 2.25.

Reflection and plasma wave excitation are key to initial acceleration.

Most ICM shocks are below the critical Mach number, reducing acceleration efficiency.

Abstract

Collisionless shocks with low sonic Mach numbers, $M_{\rm s} \lesssim 4$, are expected to accelerate cosmic ray (CR) protons via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in the intracluster medium (ICM). However, observational evidence for CR protons in the ICM has yet to be established. Performing particle-in-cell simulations, we study the injection of protons into DSA and the early development of a nonthermal particle population in weak shocks in high $\beta$ ($\approx 100$) plasmas. Reflection of incident protons, self-excitation of plasma waves via CR-driven instabilities, and multiple cycles of shock drift acceleration are essential to the early acceleration of CR protons in supercritical quasi-parallel shocks. We find that only in ICM shocks with $M_{\rm s} \gtrsim M_{\rm s}^*\approx 2.25$, a sufficient fraction of incoming protons are reflected by the overshoot in the shock electric potential and magnetic mirror at locally perpendicular magnetic fields, leading to efficient excitation of magnetic waves via CR streaming instabilities and the injection into the DSA process. Since a significant fraction of ICM shocks have $M_{\rm s} < M_{\rm s}^*$, CR proton acceleration in the ICM might be less efficient than previously expected. This may explain why the diffuse gamma-ray emission from galaxy clusters due to proton-proton collisions has not been detected so far.