Work

The Proton Distribution Function in Weakly Magnetized Turbulent Plasmas

Year: 1999

Type: article

Abstract: We calculate the proton distribution function due to heating by subsonic, Alfvénic turbulence in a weakly magnetized collisionless plasma. The distribution function is nonthermal. For nonrelativistic energies it is an exponential of the magnitude of the proton velocity. For ultrarelativistic energies, it can be characterized as a power law with a momentum-dependent slope. We briefly discuss the implications of this work for gamma-ray emission (via pion decay) from hot accretion flows.

Source: The Astrophysical Journal

DOI: 10.1086/307472

Authors: Andrei Gruzinov, Eliot Quataert

Institutions: Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

Language: English

Topic: Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Science Foundation

Awards: Theoretical Physics, Investigations in Theoretical Astrophysics