Does the inverse Compton mechanism alone explain the GeV/TeV gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula?

✍ Scribed by F.A. Aharonian; A.M. Atoyan

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 848 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0927-6505
• DOI: 10.1016/0927-6505(95)00006-3

✦ Synopsis

The origin of the broad-band photon spectrum of the Crab Nebula is discussed. The synchrotron radiation calculated for the spatial distribution of the nebular magnetic field derived from the MHD flow model is in a good agreement with the observed photon spectrum from radio wavelengths to y-rays, up to E, 5 1 GeV. The inverse Compton scattering of the accelerated electrons on the synchrotron, "dust" IR, and 2.7 K microwave background radiation fields is the most effective y-ray production mechanism at photon energies above 100 GeV. We argue that the bremsstrahlung radiation of relativistic electrons produced in the Crab filaments could play a principal role in the formation of the spectrum of the Crab Nebula in the intermediate energy domain between 1 and 100 GeV.