Cosmic-Ray Propagation in Young Embedded Clusters
This paper constructs a quantitative description for the geometrical properties of young stellar clusters using a Delaunay mesh. This approach defines the paths that connect cluster members and can be used to characterize the distribution of path lengths and other geometrical properties of these sys...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adea49 |
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| Summary: | This paper constructs a quantitative description for the geometrical properties of young stellar clusters using a Delaunay mesh. This approach defines the paths that connect cluster members and can be used to characterize the distribution of path lengths and other geometrical properties of these systems. As an application, we use this characterization to study the propagation of cosmic rays through the cluster, and estimate the resulting enhancement of cosmic-ray energy density. In the limit where magnetic fields are strong enough to confine cosmic rays, the magnetic field lines provide paths between neighboring stellar members, so that particles must travel along the paths defined by the Delaunay mesh. As a result, cosmic rays, which are locally accelerated by young stellar objects in the cluster, must random walk through the mesh in order to escape. For young stellar clusters with the properties found in the solar neighborhood, we find that once the gas has been dispersed (so that particle attenuation is insignificant), the increased escape time due to the random walk enhances the energy density in cosmic rays by a factor of ∼100 over the background on size scales of circumstellar disks. |
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| ISSN: | 1538-4357 |