Thermalization Mechanisms in Compact Sources
| dc.creator | Svensson, Roland | |
| dc.date | 1999-02-15 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T02:30:28Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T02:30:28Z | |
| dc.description | There is strong observational evidence that a quasi-thermal population of electrons (or pairs) exists in compact X-ray sources. It is, however, unclear what mechanism thermalizes the particles. Here, two processes, Coulomb scattering and synchrotron self-absorption, that may be responsible for the thermalization, are reviewed. The parameter spaces in which respective process dominates are given. While the Coulomb thermalization mechanism is well-known, this is not the case for the synchrotron self-absorption thermalization. We give the arguments that synchrotron self-absorption must act as a thermalizing mechanism in sufficiently compact sources. The emitting and absorbing electrons then exchange energy efficiently with the self-absorbed synchrotron radiation field and are driven towards a relativistic or mildly relativistic thermal distribution in a few synchrotron cooling times (the "synchrotron boiler"). | |
| dc.description | 14 pages; Invited review at the workshop "High Energy Processes in Accreting Black Holes", eds. J. Poutanen and R. Svensson, ASP Conf. Series, Vol. 161, p. 361 | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9902204 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9902204 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/13824 | |
| dc.subject | Astrophysics | |
| dc.title | Thermalization Mechanisms in Compact Sources | |
| dc.type | text |