X-RAYS FROM SUPERNOVA-REMNANTS WITH PARTICLE-ACCELERATION

Various X-ray spectra and fluxes of supernova remnants (SNR's) are calculated to demonstrate the importance of particle acceleration in shock waves. By this process kinetic energy of the shock wave is converted to high energy particles and not to the thermal plasma. The spherical models of SNR's are followed numerically up to 10(6) years including particle acceleration, injection of particles in shock waves, heating of the gas by dissipation of Alfven waves as well as radiative cooling. As a consequence the thermal history of the remnant and the radial structure of the hot gas depends on the efficiency of the non-linear acceleration process. In the case where an important fraction of the explosion energy is transferred to cosmic rays the X-ray fluxes can differ by a factor of 20 compared to the case of low cosmic ray production. We also calculate theoretical ROSAT spectra and discuss some observational constraints on the acceleration mechanism.