Outflow and Emission Model of Pulsar Wind Nebulae with the Back-reaction of Particle Diffusion

TL;DR

This paper introduces a self-consistent model of pulsar wind nebulae that incorporates both particle advection and diffusion, revealing how diffusion back-reaction alters flow profiles and emission spectra, and successfully fits observations of specific nebulae.

Contribution

The model uniquely accounts for the back reaction of particle diffusion on flow dynamics and emission, improving upon previous models that neglected this effect.

Findings

Diffusion back reaction modifies flow profiles.

The model fits observed spectra and surface brightness profiles.

Predicts a gamma-ray halo larger than the radio nebula.

Abstract

We present a new pulsar wind nebula (PWN) model solving both advection and diffusion of non-thermal particles in a self-consistent way to satisfy the momentum and energy conservation laws. Assuming spherically symmetric (1--D) steady outflow, we calculate the emission spectrum integrating over the entire nebula and the radial profile of the surface brightness. We find that the back reaction of the particle diffusion modifies the flow profile. The photon spectrum and the surface brightness profile are different from the model calculations without the back reaction of the particle diffusion. Our model is applied to the two well-studied PWNe 3C 58 and G21.5-0.9. By fitting the spectra of these PWNe, we determine the parameter sets and calculate the radial profiles of X-ray surface brightness. For both the objects, obtained profiles of X-ray surface brightness and photon index are well consistent with observations. Our model suggests that particles escaped from the nebula significantly contribute to the gamma-ray flux. A $\gamma$-ray halo larger than the radio nebula is predicted in our model.