The multi-band non-thermal emission from the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946

Abstract

Non-thermal X-rays and very high energy (VHE) γ-rays have been detected from the supernova remnant (SNR) RX J1713.7-3946, and the recent observations with the Suzaku satellite clearly reveal a spectral cut-off in the X-ray spectrum, which directly relates to the cut-off of the energy spectrum of the parent electrons. However, whether the origin of the VHE γ-rays from the SNR is hadronic or leptonic is still in debate. We studied the multi-band non-thermal emission from RX J1713.7-3946 based on a semi-analytical approach towards the non-linear shock acceleration process by including the contribution of the accelerated electrons to the non-thermal radiation. The results show that the multi-band observations on RX J1713.7-3946 can be well explained in the model with appropriate parameters, and the TeV γ-rays have hadronic origin, i.e. they are produced via proton-proton interactions as the relativistic protons accelerated by the shock collide with the ambient matter. © 2008 RAS.