Particle acceleration at the termination shock of stellar clusters' wind

TL;DR

This paper develops a theory of particle acceleration at the termination shock of stellar cluster winds, showing potential for PeV energies limited by escape and diffusion processes, with implications for cosmic ray origins.

Contribution

It introduces a new theoretical framework for diffusive shock acceleration at stellar cluster wind termination shocks, highlighting conditions for reaching PeV energies.

Findings

Maximum particle energy can reach PeV for powerful clusters.

Energy limits are set by particle escape and diffusion regimes.

Diffusion close to Bohm allows higher energy acceleration.

Abstract

We investigate the process of particle acceleration at the termination shock that develops in the bubble excavated by winds of star clusters in the interstellar medium. We develop a theory of diffusive shock acceleration at such shock and we find that the maximum energy may reach the PeV region for very powerful clusters. We show how the maximum energy is limited by two different processes: the particle escape from the bubble boundary and the drop of energy gain for particles able to diffuse up to the center of the cluster. A crucial role in this problem is played by the dissipation of kinetic energy of the wind to magnetic perturbations which determines the diffusion regime of particles: in case the diffusion is close to Bohm than PeV energies can be reached.