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      Extremely fast acceleration of cosmic rays in a supernova remnant

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      Nature
      Springer Nature

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          Abstract

          Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) are widely believed to be accelerated by shock waves associated with the expansion of supernova ejecta into the interstellar medium. A key issue in this long-standing conjecture is a theoretical prediction that the interstellar magnetic field can be substantially amplified at the shock of a young supernova remnant (SNR) through magnetohydrodynamic waves generated by cosmic rays. Here we report a discovery of the brightening and decay of X-ray hot spots in the shell of the SNR RX J1713.7-3946 on a one-year timescale. This rapid variability shows that the X-rays are produced by ultrarelativistic electrons through a synchrotron process and that electron acceleration does indeed take place in a strongly magnetized environment, indicating amplification of the magnetic field by a factor of more than 100. The X-ray variability also implies that we have witnessed the ongoing shock-acceleration of electrons in real time. Independently, broadband X-ray spectrometric measurements of RX J1713.7-3946 indicate that electron acceleration proceeds in the most effective ('Bohm-diffusion') regime. Taken together, these two results provide a strong argument for acceleration of protons and nuclei to energies of 1 PeV (10(15) eV) and beyond in young supernova remnants.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Nature
          Nature
          Springer Nature
          0028-0836
          1476-4687
          October 4 2007
          October 4 2007
          : 449
          : 7162
          : 576-578
          Article
          10.1038/nature06210
          17914390
          93edc328-5ceb-4f84-9751-3f92b76fdd31
          © 2007
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