A numerical approach for radiative cooling in relativistic outflows. Issue 1 (31st January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rueda‐Becerril, Jesús M.
• Other Names: Zen Vasconcellos C.A. guestEditor.; Hess P.O. guestEditor.; Piccinelli G. guestEditor.; Vargas Magaña M. guestEditor.; Ureña-Lopez L. guestEditor.; González Felipe R. guestEditor.; Boller Th. guestEditor.; Gullberg S. guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Astronomische Nachrichten. Volume 342:Issue 1/2(2021)
• Page Start: 277
• Page End: 282
• Publication Date: 2021-01-31
• Subjects: methods: numerical -- radiation mechanisms: nonthermal -- acceleration of particles; Astronomy -- Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1002/asna.202113919
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0004-6337

Abstract

Abstract: In high‐energy astrophysics scenarios such as Blazars, gamma‐ray bursts, or pulsar wind nebulae, it is highly probable that ultrarelativistic particles interact with photons in their environment through scattering. As long as the energy of the particle is greater than the energy of the interacting photon, the (classical) scattering is known to be in the Thomson regime. Otherwise, quantum effects will affect the scattering cross section, and we enter into the so‐called Klein‐Nishina regime. It is well known that radiative cooling in the Thomson regime is very efficient, leading to soft high‐energy spectra. However, observations have shown that, in many cases, the high‐energy spectrum of some objects is rather hard. This has led to the assumption that perhaps particles are not being cooled down efficiently. Asymptotic approximations of the Klein‐Nishina regime have been formulated in the last decades in order to account for these corrections in the distribution of particles responsible for the observed spectrum of high‐energy sources. In this work, we present a numerical approach of the Klein‐Nishina corrections to the radiative cooling. It has been developed to simulate the evolution of a distribution of particles interacting with photons in their surroundings via inverse Compton scattering.