The double signature of local cosmic-ray acceleration in star-forming regions

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that local cosmic-ray acceleration in star-forming regions can explain both synchrotron emission and high ionisation rates, challenging the traditional reliance on shock-generated UV photons.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking local CR acceleration to observed non-thermal emission and ionisation, providing new insights into star-forming region diagnostics.

Findings

The model explains synchrotron emission and ionisation rates in OMC-2 FIR 3/FIR 4.

Constraints on magnetic field strength and jet velocity are derived.

Continuum and molecular observations can be unified under local CR acceleration.

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increased interest in the study of the generation of low-energy cosmic rays (CRs; < 1 TeV) in shocks situated on the surface of a protostar or along protostellar jets. These locally accelerated CRs offer an attractive explanation for the high levels of non-thermal emission and ionisation rate, $\zeta$, observed close to these sources. The high $\zeta$ observed in some protostellar sources is generally attributed to shock-generated UV photons. The aim of this article is to show that when synchrotron emission and a high $\zeta$ are measured in the same spatial region, a locally shock-accelerated CR flux is sufficient to explain both phenomena. We assume that relativistic particles are accelerated according to the first-order Fermi acceleration mechanism and compute $\zeta$ and the non-thermal emission at cm wavelengths. We then apply our model to the star-forming region OMC-2 FIR 3/FIR 4. Using a Bayesian analysis, we constrain the parameters of the model and estimate the spectral indices of the non-thermal radio emission. We demonstrate that the local CR acceleration model makes it possible to simultaneously explain the synchrotron emission along the HOPS 370 jet within the FIR 3 region and $\zeta$ observed near the FIR 4 protocluster. Our model constrains the magnetic field strength (~250-450$~\mu$G), its turbulent component (~20-40$~\mu$G), and the jet velocity in the shock reference frame for the three non-thermal sources of the HOPS 370 jet (~350-1000 km s$^{-1}$). Beyond the modelling of the OMC-2 FIR 3/FIR 4 system, we show how the combination of continuum observations at cm wavelengths and molecular transitions is a powerful new tool for the analysis of star-forming regions: these two types of observations can be simultaneously interpreted by invoking only the presence of locally accelerated CRs, without having to resort to shock-generated UV photons.