Flat Spectra of Energetic Particles in Interplanetary Shock Precursors

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Malkov, Mikhail, Giacalone, Joe, Guo, Fan
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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author Malkov, Mikhail
Giacalone, Joe
Guo, Fan
author_facet Malkov, Mikhail
Giacalone, Joe
Guo, Fan
contents The observed energy spectra of accelerated particles at interplanetary shocks often do not match the diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) theory predictions. In some cases, the particle flux forms a plateau over a wide range of energies, extending upstream of the shock for up to seven flux's e-folds before submerging into the background spectrum. Remarkably, at and behind the shock that we have studied in detail, the flux falls off in energy as $ε^{-1}$, consistent with the DSA prediction for a strong shock. The upstream plateau suggests a different particle transport mechanism than those traditionally employed in DSA models. We show that a standard (linear) DSA solution based on a widely accepted diffusive particle transport with an underlying resonant wave-particle interaction is inconsistent with the plateau in the particle flux. To resolve this contradiction, we modify the DSA theory in two ways. First, we include a dependence of the particle diffusivity $κ$ on the particle flux $F$ (nonlinear particle transport). Second, we invoke short-scale magnetic perturbations that are self-consistently generated by, but not resonant with, accelerated particles. They lead to the particle diffusivity increasing with the particle energy as $\proptoε^{3/2}$ that simultaneously decreases with the particle flux as $1/F$. The combination of these two trends results in the flat spectrum upstream.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_07229
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Flat Spectra of Energetic Particles in Interplanetary Shock Precursors
Malkov, Mikhail
Giacalone, Joe
Guo, Fan
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
The observed energy spectra of accelerated particles at interplanetary shocks often do not match the diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) theory predictions. In some cases, the particle flux forms a plateau over a wide range of energies, extending upstream of the shock for up to seven flux's e-folds before submerging into the background spectrum. Remarkably, at and behind the shock that we have studied in detail, the flux falls off in energy as $ε^{-1}$, consistent with the DSA prediction for a strong shock. The upstream plateau suggests a different particle transport mechanism than those traditionally employed in DSA models. We show that a standard (linear) DSA solution based on a widely accepted diffusive particle transport with an underlying resonant wave-particle interaction is inconsistent with the plateau in the particle flux. To resolve this contradiction, we modify the DSA theory in two ways. First, we include a dependence of the particle diffusivity $κ$ on the particle flux $F$ (nonlinear particle transport). Second, we invoke short-scale magnetic perturbations that are self-consistently generated by, but not resonant with, accelerated particles. They lead to the particle diffusivity increasing with the particle energy as $\proptoε^{3/2}$ that simultaneously decreases with the particle flux as $1/F$. The combination of these two trends results in the flat spectrum upstream.
title Flat Spectra of Energetic Particles in Interplanetary Shock Precursors
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.07229