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Astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, astro-ph.HE
Abstract:
A nonlinear kinetic theory, combining cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration in
supernova remnants (SNRs) with their gas dynamics, is used to re-examine the
nonthermal properties of the remnant of SN 1987A for an extended evolutionary
period of 5-50 yr. This spherically symmetric model is approximately applied to
the different features of the SNR which consist of (i) a blue supergiant wind
and bubble, and (ii) of the swept-up red supergiant (RSG) wind structures in
the form of an H II region, an equatorial ring (ER), and an hourglass region.
The RSG wind involves a mass loss rate that decreases significantly with
elevation above and below the equatorial plane. The model adapts recent
three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations by Potter et al. in 2014 that use
a significantly smaller ionized mass of the ER than assumed in the earlier
studies by the present authors. The SNR shock recently swept up the ER, which
is the densest region in the immediate circumstellar environment. Therefore,
the expected gamma-ray energy flux density at TeV energies in the current epoch
has already reached its maximal value of $\sim 10^{-13}$ erg cm$^{-2}$
s$^{-1}$. This flux should decrease by a factor of about two over the next 10
years.
