The maximum momentum of particles accelerated at cosmic ray modified shocks

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 375; no. 4; pp. 1471 - 1478
• Main Authors: Blasi, Pasquale, Amato, Elena, Caprioli, Damiano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007; Blackwell Science; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: acceleration of particles; Astronomy; Astrophysics; Cosmic rays; Earth, ocean, space; Estimating techniques; Exact sciences and technology; Particle accelerators; shock waves; acceleration of particles; shock waves; Amplification; Shock waves; Cosmic particle; Relativistic shock wave; Test particles; Particle acceleration; Magnetic fields; Cosmic radiation
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11412.x

Particle acceleration at non-relativistic shocks can be very efficient, leading to the appearance of non-linear effects due to the dynamical reaction of the accelerated particles on the shock structure and to the non-linear amplification of the magnetic field in the shock vicinity. The value of the maximum momentum, pmax, in these circumstances cannot be estimated using the classical results obtained within the framework of test-particle approaches. We provide here the first attempt at estimating pmax in the cosmic ray modified regime, taking into account the non-linear effects mentioned above.