Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in Type Ia supernova remnants undergoing cosmic ray particle acceleration - low adiabatic index solutions

Abstract

This study investigates the evolution of Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instabilities in Type Ia supernova remnants that are associated with a low adiabatic index γ, where γ < 5/3, which reflects the expected change in the supernova shock structure as a result of cosmic ray particle acceleration. Extreme cases, such as the case with the maximum compression ratio that corresponds to γ= 1.1, are examined. As γ decreases, the shock compression ratio rises, and an increasingly narrow intershock region with a more pronounced initial mixture of R-T unstable gas is produced. Consequently, the remnant outline may be perturbed by small-amplitude, small-wavelength bumps. However, as the instability decays over time, the extent of convective mixing in terms of the ratio of the radius of the R-T fingers to the blast wave does not strongly depend on the value of γ for γ≥ 1.2. As a result of the age of the remnant, the unstable gas cannot extend sufficiently far to form metal-enriched filaments of ejecta material close to the periphery of Tycho's supernova remnant. The consistency of the dynamic properties of Tycho's remnant with the adiabatic model γ= 5/3 reveals that the injection of cosmic rays is too weak to alter the shock structure. Even with very efficient acceleration of cosmic rays at the shock, significantly enhanced mixing is not expected in Type Ia supernova remnants. © 2011 The Author Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS.