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A new scenario for impulsive bursts of hard electromagnetic radiation in space plasma

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Abstract

We discuss the peculiarities of fast magnetic reconnection in the essentially nonequilibrium magnetosphere of a compact relativistic object: a neutron star, a magnetar, a white dwarf. Such a magnetosphere is produced by the interaction of a large-amplitude shock wave with a strong stellar magnetic field. We present an analytical solution of the generalized two-dimensional problem on the magnetosphere’s structure, the shape of its boundary, and the direct and reverse currents in a reconnecting current sheet. The uncompensated magnetic force acting on the reverse current is determined. Characteristic parameters of the nonequilibrium magnetosphere of compact stellar objects are estimated. We show that the excess magnetic energy of the magnetosphere is comparable to the mechanical energy brought into it by the shock at the instant of impact. The possibility of particle acceleration to enormous energies is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Universitetskii pr. 13, Moscow, 119992, Russia

    B. V. Somov

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  1. B. V. Somov
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Correspondence to B. V. Somov.

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Original Russian Text © B.V. Somov, 2011, published in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2011, Vol. 37, No. 10, pp. 740–753.

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Somov, B.V. A new scenario for impulsive bursts of hard electromagnetic radiation in space plasma. Astron. Lett. 37, 679–691 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773711100069

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