Power-law Spectrum of Energetic Particles in Classical Thermal Equilibrium by Pitch-angle Scattering Process

TL;DR

This paper derives a power-law energy spectrum for particles in thermal equilibrium under pitch-angle scattering, linking spectral indices to magnetic field properties and cosmic-ray observations.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework connecting particle energy spectra with magnetic field fractal dimensions in thermal equilibrium.

Findings

Particles exhibit inverse break power-law spectra under certain conditions.

Spectral indices depend on the fractal dimension of magnetic field lines.

Galactic magnetic field likely exhibits super-diffusive behavior with δ ≈ 1.4.

Abstract

The Boltzmann-Gibbs thermodynamic equilibrium state of charged particles pitch-angle scattered by weak plasma waves is discussed. Degrees of freedom of these waves play a fundamental role in constructing the grand canonical ensemble. Via the gyro-resonance condition, fast particles have an inverse break power-law spectrum for $ \varepsilon -\mu \ll T $, where $ \varepsilon $ is the particle energy, $ \mu $ is the chemical potential, $ T $ is the temperature. The break energies are the rest energy and $ -\mu $. For $ \varepsilon \ll -\mu \ll T $, the energy spectral index $ \alpha $ is $ \delta /2+1 $ and $ \delta +1 $ for non- and ultra-relativistic particles, respectively, with $ \delta $ an effective fractal dimension of background magnetic field lines. The spectral index for $ -\mu \ll \varepsilon \ll T $ is $ \alpha +1 $. This thermal equilibrium scenario, combined with the leaky-box model and cosmic-ray observations, seems to suggest that the Galactic magnetic field is super-diffusive with $ \delta \approx 1.4 $.