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(Ebook) High Energy Astrophysics by Longair M.S. ISBN 9780521756181, 0521756189 Ready To Read

The document is about the third edition of 'High Energy Astrophysics' by Malcolm S. Longair, which serves as a comprehensive textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses in high energy astrophysics. It covers recent discoveries and fundamental concepts in the field, including gamma-ray bursts and cosmic rays, and has been rewritten to consolidate previous editions into one volume. The author, a distinguished figure in astrophysics, emphasizes the physical principles underlying high energy phenomena in the universe.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
35 views118 pages

(Ebook) High Energy Astrophysics by Longair M.S. ISBN 9780521756181, 0521756189 Ready To Read

The document is about the third edition of 'High Energy Astrophysics' by Malcolm S. Longair, which serves as a comprehensive textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses in high energy astrophysics. It covers recent discoveries and fundamental concepts in the field, including gamma-ray bursts and cosmic rays, and has been rewritten to consolidate previous editions into one volume. The author, a distinguished figure in astrophysics, emphasizes the physical principles underlying high energy phenomena in the universe.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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High Energy Astrophysics


Third Edition

Providing students with an in-depth account of the astrophysics of high energy phenomena
in the Universe, the third edition of this well-established textbook is ideal for advanced
undergraduate and beginning graduate courses in high energy astrophysics.
Building on the concepts and techniques taught in standard undergraduate courses, this
textbook provides the astronomical and astrophysical background for students to explore
more advanced topics. Special emphasis is given to the underlying physical principles of
high energy astrophysics, helping students understand the essential physics.
The third edition has been completely rewritten, consolidating the previous editions
into one volume. It covers the most recent discoveries in areas such as gamma-ray bursts,
ultra-high energy cosmic rays and ultra-high energy gamma rays. The topics have been
rearranged and streamlined to make them more applicable to a wide range of different
astrophysical problems.

Malcolm S. Longair is Emeritus Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy and Director of


Development at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge. He has held many
senior positions in physics and astronomy, and has served on and chaired many national and
international committees, boards and panels, working with both NASA and the European
Space Agency. He has received much recognition for his work, including a CBE in the
millennium honours list for his services to astronomy and cosmology. He is a Fellow of
the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Academia Lincei and
the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Arte e Literatura.
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High Energy Astrophysics


Third Edition

MALCOLM S. LONGAIR
Emeritus Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy,
Cavendish Laboratory,
University of Cambridge, Cambridge
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c a m b r i d g e u n i v e r s i t y pr e s s
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore,
São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo, Mexico City
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521756181


C M. Longair 2011

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception


and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2011

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

ISBN 978-0-521-75618-1 Hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or


accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in
this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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For Deborah
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Contents

Preface page xiii


Acknowledgements xvii

Part I Astronomical background

1 High energy astrophysics – an introduction 3


1.1 High energy astrophysics and modern physics and astronomy 3
1.2 The sky in different astronomical wavebands 4
1.3 Optical waveband 3 × 1014  ν  1015 Hz; 1 μm  λ  300 nm 5
1.4 Infrared waveband 3 × 1012  ν  3 × 1014 Hz; 100  λ  1 μm 9
1.5 Millimetre and submillimetre waveband 30 GHz  ν  3 THz;
10  λ  0.1 mm 14
1.6 Radio waveband 3 MHz  ν  30 GHz; 100 m  λ  1 cm 17
1.7 Ultraviolet waveband 1015  ν  3 × 1016 Hz; 300  λ  10 nm 21
1.8 X-ray waveband 3 × 1016  ν  3 × 1019 Hz; 10  λ  0.01 nm;
0.1  E  100 keV 22
1.9 γ -ray waveband ν  3 × 1019 Hz; λ  0.01 nm; E  100 keV 25
1.10 Cosmic ray astrophysics 27
1.11 Other non-electromagnetic astronomies 32
1.12 Concluding remarks 34

2 The stars and stellar evolution 35


2.1 Introduction 35
2.2 Basic observations 35
2.3 Stellar structure 39
2.4 The equations of energy generation and energy transport 43
2.5 The equations of stellar structure 47
2.6 The Sun as a star 50
2.7 Evolution of high and low mass stars 59
2.8 Stellar evolution on the colour–magnitude diagram 68
2.9 Mass loss 70
2.10 Conclusion 75

3 The galaxies 77
3.1 Introduction 77
3.2 The Hubble sequence 78
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viii Contents

3.3 The red and blue sequences 80


3.4 Further correlations among the properties of galaxies 86
3.5 The masses of galaxies 89
3.6 The luminosity function of galaxies 95

4 Clusters of galaxies 99
4.1 The morphologies of rich clusters of galaxies 99
4.2 Clusters of galaxies and isothermal gas spheres 102
4.3 The Coma Cluster of galaxies 106
4.4 Mass distribution of hot gas and dark matter in clusters 109
4.5 Cooling flows in clusters of galaxies 110
4.6 The Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect in hot intracluster gas 114
4.7 Gravitational lensing by galaxies and clusters of galaxies 116
4.8 Dark matter in galaxies and clusters of galaxies 123

Part II Physical processes

5 Ionisation losses 131


5.1 Introduction 131
5.2 Ionisation losses – non-relativistic treatment 131
5.3 The relativistic case 136
5.4 Practical forms of the ionisation loss formulae 141
5.5 Ionisation losses of electrons 145
5.6 Nuclear emulsions, plastics and meteorites 146
5.7 Dynamical friction 151

6 Radiation of accelerated charged particles and bremsstrahlung of electrons 154


6.1 Introduction 154
6.2 The radiation of accelerated charged particles 154
6.3 Bremsstrahlung 163
6.4 Non-relativistic bremsstrahlung energy loss rate 166
6.5 Thermal bremsstrahlung 167
6.6 Relativistic bremsstrahlung 173

7 The dynamics of charged particles in magnetic fields 178


7.1 A uniform static magnetic field 178
7.2 A time-varying magnetic field 180
7.3 The scattering of charged particles by irregularities in the magnetic field 184
7.4 The scattering of high energy particles by Alfvén and
hydromagnetic waves 187
7.5 The diffusion-loss equation for high energy particles 189

8 Synchrotron radiation 193


8.1 The total energy loss rate 193
8.2 Non-relativistic gyroradiation and cyclotron radiation 195
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8.3 The spectrum of synchrotron radiation – physical arguments 198


8.4 The spectrum of synchrotron radiation – a fuller version 202
8.5 The synchrotron radiation of a power-law distribution of electron
energies 212
8.6 The polarisation of synchrotron radiation 214
8.7 Synchrotron self-absorption 217
8.8 Useful numerical results 222
8.9 The radio emission of the Galaxy 224

9 Interactions of high energy photons 228


9.1 Photoelectric absorption 228
9.2 Thomson and Compton scattering 231
9.3 Inverse Compton scattering 237
9.4 Comptonisation 243
9.5 The Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect 257
9.6 Synchrotron–self-Compton radiation 260
9.7 Cherenkov radiation 264
9.8 Electron–positron pair production 270
9.9 Electron–photon cascades, electromagnetic showers and the detection
of ultra-high energy γ -rays 272
9.10 Electron–positron annihilation and positron production mechanisms 275

10 Nuclear interactions 279


10.1 Nuclear interactions and high energy astrophysics 279
10.2 Spallation cross-sections 282
10.3 Nuclear emission lines 287
10.4 Cosmic rays in the atmosphere 292

11 Aspects of plasma physics and magnetohydrodynamics 298


11.1 Elementary concepts in plasma physics 298
11.2 Magnetic flux freezing 304
11.3 Shock waves 314
11.4 The Earth’s magnetosphere 319
11.5 Magnetic buoyancy 321
11.6 Reconnection of magnetic lines of force 323

Part III High energy astrophysics in our Galaxy

12 Interstellar gas and magnetic fields 333


12.1 The interstellar medium in the life cycle of stars 333
12.2 Diagnostic tools – neutral interstellar gas 333
12.3 Ionised interstellar gas 340
12.4 Interstellar dust 347
12.5 An overall picture of the interstellar gas 353
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12.6 Star formation 361


12.7 The Galactic magnetic field 369

13 Dead stars 378


13.1 Supernovae 378
13.2 White dwarfs, neutron stars and the Chandrasekhar limit 394
13.3 White dwarfs 401
13.4 Neutron stars 401
13.5 The discovery of neutron stars 406
13.6 The galactic population of neutron stars 419
13.7 Thermal emission of neutron stars 421
13.8 Pulsar glitches 422
13.9 The pulsar magnetosphere 424
13.10 The radio and high energy emission of pulsars 427
13.11 Black holes 429

14 Accretion power in astrophysics 443


14.1 Introduction 443
14.2 Accretion–general considerations 443
14.3 Thin accretion discs 451
14.4 Thick discs and advective flows 461
14.5 Accretion in binary systems 464
14.6 Accreting binary systems 473
14.7 Black holes in X-ray binaries 486
14.8 Final thoughts 492

15 Cosmic rays 493


15.1 The energy spectra of cosmic ray protons and nuclei 493
15.2 The abundances of the elements in the cosmic rays 496
15.3 The isotropy and energy density of cosmic rays 502
15.4 Gamma ray observations of the Galaxy 503
15.5 The origin of the light elements in the cosmic rays 507
15.6 The confinement time of cosmic rays in the Galaxy and cosmic ray
clocks 515
15.7 The confinement volume for cosmic rays 517
15.8 The Galactic halo 520
15.9 The highest energy cosmic rays and extensive air-showers 522
15.10 Observations of the highest energy cosmic rays 524
15.11 The isotropy of ultra-high energy cosmic rays 529
15.12 The Greisen–Kuzmin–Zatsepin (GKZ) cut-off 531

16 The origin of cosmic rays in our Galaxy 536


16.1 Introduction 536
16.2 Energy loss processes for high energy electrons 536
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xi Contents

16.3 Diffusion-loss equation for high energy electrons 540


16.4 Supernova remnants as sources of high energy particles 545
16.5 The minimum energy requirements for synchrotron radiation 549
16.6 Supernova remnants as sources of high energy electrons 553
16.7 The evolution of supernova remnants 554
16.8 The adiabatic loss problem and the acceleration of high
energy particles 556

17 The acceleration of high energy particles 561


17.1 General principles of acceleration 561
17.2 The acceleration of particles in solar flares 562
17.3 Fermi acceleration – original version 564
17.4 Diffusive shock acceleration in strong shock waves 568
17.5 Beyond the standard model 574
17.6 The highest energy cosmic rays 580

Part IV Extragalactic high energy astrophysics

18 Active galaxies 585


18.1 Introduction 585
18.2 Radio galaxies and high energy astrophysics 585
18.3 The quasars 586
18.4 Seyfert galaxies 592
18.5 Blazars, superluminal sources and γ -ray sources 596
18.6 Low Ionisation Nuclear Emission Regions – LINERS 598
18.7 Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies ULIRGs 598
18.8 X-ray surveys of active galaxies 600
18.9 Unification schemes for active galaxies 602

19 Black holes in the nuclei of galaxies 610


19.1 The properties of black holes 610
19.2 Elementary considerations 611
19.3 Dynamical evidence for supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei 613
19.4 The Soltan argument 623
19.5 Black holes and spheroid masses 625
19.6 X-ray observations of fluorescence lines in active galactic nuclei 626
19.7 The growth of black holes in the nuclei of galaxies 633

20 The vicinity of the black hole 637


20.1 The prime ingredients of active galactic nuclei 637
20.2 The continuum spectrum 637
20.3 The emission line regions – the overall picture 640
20.4 The narrow-line regions – the example of Cygnus A 641
20.5 The broad-line regions and reverberation mapping 646
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xii Contents

20.6 The alignment effect and shock excitation of emission line regions 653
20.7 Accretion discs about supermassive black holes 656

21 Extragalactic radio sources 661


21.1 Extended radio sources – Fanaroff–Riley types 661
21.2 The astrophysics of FR2 radio sources 666
21.3 The FR1 radio sources 675
21.4 The microquasars 676
21.5 Jet physics 678

22 Compact extragalactic sources and superluminal motions 681


22.1 Compact radio sources 681
22.2 Superluminal motions 683
22.3 Relativistic beaming 686
22.4 The superluminal source population 693
22.5 Synchro-Compton radiation and the inverse
Compton catastrophe 697
22.6 γ -ray sources in active galactic nuclei 699
22.7 γ -ray bursts 704

23 Cosmological aspects of high energy astrophysics 714


23.1 The cosmic evolution of galaxies and active galaxies 714
23.2 The essential theoretical tools 715
23.3 The evolution of non-thermal sources with cosmic epoch 720
23.4 The evolution of thermal sources with cosmic epoch 729
23.5 Mid- and far-infrared number counts 737
23.6 Submillimetre number counts 740
23.7 The global star-formation rate 743
23.8 The old red galaxies 746
23.9 Putting it all together 749

Appendix Astronomical conventions and nomenclature 753


A.1 Galactic coordinates and projections of the
celestial sphere onto a plane 753
A.2 Distances in astronomy 755
A.3 Masses in astronomy 759
A.4 Flux densities, luminosities, magnitudes and colours 760
A.5 Diffraction-limited telescopes 764
A.6 Interferometry and synthesis imaging 771
A.7 The sensitivities of astronomical detectors 774
A.8 Units and relativistic notation 779

Bibliography 783
Name index 825
Object index 829
Index 831
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Preface

Ancient history

It was a challenge to write this third edition of High Energy Astrophysics. Writing the first
edition was great fun and that rather slim volume reflected rather closely the lecturing style
I adopted in presenting high energy astrophysics to final-year undergraduates in the period
1973–7. Although the material was updated when the manuscript was sent to the press in
1980, the book remained in essence a lecture course (Longair, 1981). The reception of
the book was encouraging and in due course a second edition was needed. The subject
had advanced so rapidly during the 1980s and early 1990s that the material could not be
comfortably contained within one volume. The aim was originally to complete the task in
two volumes, but by the time the Volumes 1 and 2 were completed, I had only reached the
edge of our own Galaxy (Longair, 1997b,c).1 Volume 3 was begun, but for various reasons,
was not completed – the whole project was becoming somewhat unwieldy.
In the meantime, I completed three other major book-writing projects. The first of these
was a new edition of Theoretical Concepts in Physics (Longair, 2003). Then, I completed
The Cosmic Century: A History of Astrophysics and Cosmology (Longair, 2006). Finally,
in 2008, the new edition of Galaxy Formation was published (Longair, 2008).

The new edition

Since the second edition of High Energy Astrophysics, many of the subject areas have
changed out of all recognition and new areas of astrophysical research have been opened
up, for example, ultra-high energy gamma-ray astronomy. The publication of Theoretical
Concepts in Physics, The Cosmic Century and Galaxy Formation have made it feasible to
condense the original plan of a three volume work into a single volume. In reorganising the
material, some hard decisions had to be taken, but the convenience of including everything
in one volume is worth the sacrifice of some of the material from the second edition. The
principal decisions were as follows:

1 The original volumes of the second edition were first published in 1992 (Volume 1) and 1994 (Volume 2). Major
revisions and corrections were included in the 1997 reprints of both volumes. I regard the 1997 reissues as the
definitive versions of the second edition.

xiii
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xiv Preface

r Much of the relevant historical material has been included in The Cosmic Century and
so that material will not be repeated here. I make references to the appropriate sections
of The Cosmic Century and other historical texts. I do this with considerable reluctance
since the historical development of high energy astrophysics has influenced strongly the
way in which the astrophysics has developed intellectually. History will not disappear
completely, but it will not be as prominent as in the earlier editions.
r Much of the necessary material needed to obtain a modern view of galaxies and the large
scale structure of the Universe is included in Galaxy Formation. In particular, there is no
need to repeat much of the detailed discussion of galaxies and clusters, or the large scale
structure and dynamics of the Universe. These topics are, however, central to many of the
topics in this book and so summaries of the most important topics needed to understand
the astronomical context of high energy astrophysics are provided in Part I.
r There was a strong emphasis upon the origin of cosmic rays in the first two editions. I
still consider this to be excellent material, particularly in the area of ultra-high energy
cosmic rays, but it has been somewhat abbreviated in the new edition.
r There was also a considerable amount of material on detectors and telescopes in the
earlier edition. I believe this material is of the greatest interest and importance in un-
derstanding our ability of make observations in different wavebands. This aspect of the
subject has been strongly moderated in the new edition. These are fascinating topics, but
modern telescopes and detectors have become increasingly complex and sophisticated.
Summaries of a number of important topics in the physics of astronomical detectors and
telescopes are included as an appendix.
r In the second edition, I devoted some space to high energy astrophysics in the Solar
System. This material has been abbreviated, but important topics such as the diffusion of
energetic charged particles in the Solar Wind and the acceleration of charged particles in
solar flares have been preserved.
r The opportunity has been taken to rationalise the presentation of the physical and astro-
physical processes so that duplication of material is avoided.
r The writing has been very considerably tightened up so that the discussion is less dis-
cursive than in the earlier editions. Again, I regret the necessity of doing this since often
these asides provide valuable physical insights for reader new to the subject.
The aims of the present edition are the same as the earlier editions. A very wide range of
physical processes relevant for high energy astrophysics is discussed, the emphasis being
strongly upon the understanding of the underlying physics. I aim to maintain the informal
style of the earlier editions and have no hesitation about using the first person singular
or expressing my personal opinion about the material under discussion. The emphasis is
strongly upon physical principles and the discussion of general results rather than particular
models which may have only ephemeral appeal.
As I learned during the writing of The Cosmic Century, physics and astrophysics have
a symbiotic relation. On the one hand, the astrophysical sciences are concerned with the
application of the laws of physics to phenomena on a large scale in the Universe. On
the other hand, new laws of physics are discovered and tested through astronomical obser-
vations and their astrophysical interpretation. In these ways, the new astrophysics, of which
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xv Preface

high energy astrophysics is one of the most important ingredients, is just as much a part of
modern physics as laboratory physics.
Although there is limited scope for deviation from the central theme in this new edition,
one of my original aims was to give the reader a feeling of what it is like to undertake
research at the limits of present understanding. Astrophysics is fortunate in that many of
the fundamental problems can be understood without a great deal of new physics or new
physical concepts. Thus, the text may also be considered as an introduction to the way in
which research is carried out in the astrophysical context.
Above all, however, this material is not only mind-stretching, but also great fun. I have
no intention of inhibiting my enthusiasm and enormous enjoyment of the physics and
astrophysics for its own sake.

Malcolm Longair
Cambridge and Venice
January 2010
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Acknowledgements

There are many people whom it is a pleasure to thank for help and advice during the prepa-
ration of this volume. Just as the first edition was begun during a visit to the Osservatorio
Astronomico di Arcetri in Florence in April 1980, so the second edition could not have
been completed without the Regents’ Fellowship of the Smithsonian Institution which I
held at the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory during the period April–June
1990. I am particularly grateful to Professors Irwin Shapiro and Giovanni Fazio for spon-
soring this visit to Harvard during which time the final drafts of Chapters 1–10 of the first
volume of the second edition were completed. During that period, I had particularly helpful
discussions with Drs Eugene Avrett, George Rybicki, Giovanni Fazio, Margaret Geller and
many others. I am particularly grateful to them for their advice.
Much of the preliminary rewriting was completed while I was at the Royal Observatory,
Edinburgh. Among the many colleagues with whom I discussed the contents of this vol-
ume, I must single out Dr John Peacock who provided deep insights into many topics. In
completing the final chapter on the high energy astrophysics of the Solar System, I greatly
benefitted from the advice of Professors John Brown, Carole Jordan and Eric Priest. Not
only did they point me in the correct directions but they also reviewed my first drafts of
that chapter. I am especially grateful to them for this laborious task. Many colleagues made
helpful suggestions about corrections and additions to the first edition, among whom Dr
Roger Chevalier provided an especially useful list.
Coincidentally, the writing of the third edition began while I was a visitor at the
Osservatorio Astronomico di Arcetri in Florence during the period April–June 2007. I
thank Professor Francesco Palla and his colleagues for their hospitality during that visit.
The catalogue of friends and colleagues who have continued to contribute to my under-
standing of high energy astrophysics and astrophysical cosmology since the publication of
the second edition is enormous. Many of them are acknowledged in my recent books, but
the list is so long that I would be bound to miss someone out. I acknowledge particular
insights from my colleagues in the course of the book. Special thanks are due to Dr. David
Green for his expert advice, not only on supernova remnants, but also on the more arcane
idiosyncracies of LaTeX.
To all of these friends and colleagues I make the usual disclaimer that any misrepresen-
tation of the material presented in this book is entirely my responsibility and not theirs.
Finally, I acknowledge the unfailing support and love of my family, Deborah, Mark and
Sarah who have contributed much more than they will ever know to the completion of this
book.

xvii
P1: Spk Trim: 246mm × 189mm Top: 10.193 mm Gutter: 18.98 mm
CUUK1326-FM CUUK1326-Longair 978 0 521 75618 1 August 13, 2010 2:27
P1: SFN Trim: 246mm × 189mm Top: 10.193 mm Gutter: 18.98 mm
CUUK1326-01 CUUK1326-Longair 978 0 521 75618 1 August 12, 2010 14:54

PART I

ASTRONOMICAL BACKGROUND
P1: SFN Trim: 246mm × 189mm Top: 10.193 mm Gutter: 18.98 mm
CUUK1326-01 CUUK1326-Longair 978 0 521 75618 1 August 12, 2010 14:54
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