Particle acceleration by astrophysical shocks

Abstract

A new mechanism is proposed for acceleration of a power-law distribution of cosmic rays with approximately the observed slope. High-energy particles in the vicinity of a shock are scattered by Alfven waves carried by the converging fluid flow leading to a first-order acceleration process in which the escape time is automatically comparable to the acceleration time. Shocks from supernova explosions propagating through the interstellar medium can account for the acceleration of galactic cosmic rays. Similar processes occurring in extragalactic radio sources can lead to efficient in situ acceleration of relativistic electrons.