Synchrotron radiation

Synchrotron radiation (also known as magnetobremsstrahlung radiation) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity (a ⊥ v). It is produced artificially in some types of particle accelerators or naturally by fast electrons moving through magnetic fields. The radiation produced in this way has a characteristic polarization, and the frequencies generated can range over a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.^[1]

Synchrotron radiation is similar to bremsstrahlung radiation, which is emitted by a charged particle when the acceleration is parallel to the direction of motion. The general term for radiation emitted by particles in a magnetic field is gyromagnetic radiation, for which synchrotron radiation is the ultra-relativistic special case. Radiation emitted by charged particles moving non-relativistically in a magnetic field is called cyclotron emission.^[2] For particles in the mildly relativistic range (≈85% of the speed of light), the emission is termed gyro-synchrotron radiation.^[3]

In astrophysics, synchrotron emission occurs, for instance, due to ultra-relativistic motion of a charged particle around a black hole.^[4] When the source follows a circular geodesic around the black hole, the synchrotron radiation occurs for orbits close to the photosphere where the motion is in the ultra-relativistic regime.

History

Synchrotron radiation was first observed by technician Floyd Haber, on April 24, 1947, at the 70 MeV electron synchrotron of the General Electric research laboratory in Schenectady, New York.^[5] While this was not the first synchrotron built, it was the first with a transparent vacuum tube, allowing the radiation to be directly observed.^[6]

As recounted by Herbert Pollock:^[7]

On April 24, Langmuir and I were running the machine and as usual were trying to push the electron gun and its associated pulse transformer to the limit. Some intermittent sparking had occurred and we asked the technician to observe with a mirror around the protective concrete wall. He immediately signaled to turn off the synchrotron as "he saw an arc in the tube". The vacuum was still excellent, so Langmuir and I came to the end of the wall and observed. At first we thought it might be due to Cherenkov radiation, but it soon became clearer that we were seeing Ivanenko and Pomeranchuk radiation.^[8]

Description

A direct consequence of Maxwell's equations is that accelerated charged particles always emit electromagnetic radiation. Synchrotron radiation is the special case of charged particles moving at relativistic speed undergoing acceleration perpendicular to their direction of motion, typically in a magnetic field. In such a field, the force due to the field is always perpendicular to both the direction of motion and to the direction of field, as shown by the Lorentz force law.

The power carried by the radiation is found (in

$${\displaystyle P_{\gamma }={\frac {q^{2}}{6\pi \varepsilon _{0}c^{3}}}a^{2}\gamma ^{4}={\frac {q^{2}c}{6\pi \varepsilon _{0}}}{\frac {\beta ^{4}\gamma ^{4}}{\rho ^{2}}},}$$

where

• ${\displaystyle \varepsilon _{0}}$ is the vacuum permittivity,
• ${\displaystyle q}$ is the particle charge,
• ${\displaystyle a}$ is the magnitude of the acceleration,
• ${\displaystyle c}$ is the speed of light,
• ${\displaystyle \gamma }$ is the Lorentz factor,
• ${\displaystyle \beta =v/c}$,
• ${\displaystyle \rho }$ is the radius of curvature of the particle trajectory.

The force on the emitting electron is given by the

When the radiation is emitted by a particle moving in a plane, the radiation is

. For a given acceleration, the average energy of emitted photons is proportional to ${\displaystyle \gamma ^{3}}$ and the emission rate to ${\displaystyle \gamma }$.

From accelerators

Circular accelerators will always produce gyromagnetic radiation as the particles are deflected in the magnetic field. However, the quantity and properties of the radiation are highly dependent on the nature of the acceleration taking place. For example, due to the difference in mass, the factor of ${\displaystyle \gamma ^{4}}$ in the formula for the emitted power means that electrons radiate energy at approximately 10¹³ times the rate of protons.^[11]

Energy loss from synchrotron radiation in circular accelerators was originally considered a nuisance, as additional energy must be supplied to the beam in order to offset the losses. However, beginning in the 1980s, circular electron accelerators known as light sources have been constructed to deliberately produce intense beams of synchrotron radiation for research.^[12]

In astronomy

Synchrotron radiation is also generated by astronomical objects, typically where relativistic electrons spiral (and hence change velocity) through magnetic fields. Two of its characteristics include

In particular, the Russian physicist

I.S. Shklovsky and did not speak with him for 18 years. In the West, Thomas Gold and Sir Fred Hoyle were in dispute with H. Alfven and N. Herlofson, while K.O. Kiepenheuer and G. Hutchinson were ignored by them.^{[clarification needed][18]}

From supermassive black holes

It has been suggested that

Interstellar and intergalactic media

Much of what is known about the magnetic environment of the

When a star explodes in a supernova, the fastest ejecta move at semi-relativistic speeds approximately 10% the speed of light.^[22] This blast wave gyrates electrons in ambient magnetic fields and generates synchrotron emission, revealing the radius of the blast wave at the location of the emission.^[23] Synchrotron emission can also reveal the strength of the magnetic field at the front of the shock wave, as well as the circumstellar density it encounters, but strongly depends on the choice of energy partition between the magnetic field, proton kinetic energy, and electron kinetic energy. Radio synchrotron emission has allowed astronomers to shed light on mass loss and stellar winds that occur just prior to stellar death.^[24][25]

See also

• Bremsstrahlung – Electromagnetic radiation due to deceleration of charged particles
• Cyclotron turnover
• Cyclotron radiation
• Free-electron laser – Laser using electron beam in vacuum as gain medium
• Radiation reaction
   – Recoil force on accelerating charged particlePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Relativistic beaming – change in the apparent luminosity of emitting matter that is moving close to the speed of lightPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Sokolov–Ternov effect – Physical phenomenon of spin-polarization
• Synchrotron function

Notes