Areas of Interest
Dr. Reynolds studies high-energy processes in supernova remnants,
active galaxies, and other locales, in particular the acceleration of
particles in strong shock waves. Synchrotron X-ray emission from shell
supernova remnants, originally proposed in 1981 (Reynolds and
Chevalier, ApJ, 245, 912), has now been amply confirmed and has become
an important tool for the study of shock acceleration (see Reynolds
2008 for a review). Reynolds has modeled the processes of shock
acceleration and magnetic-field amplification in shell remnants,
obtaining detailed predicted images and spectral shapes. Electron
energies of 100 TeV and above are now routinely deduced to be present
in shell supernova remnants. Synchrotron X-ray emission is often
mixed with thermal X-ray emission from gas shocked to temperatures of
10 MK and above, and Reynolds has performed observations with various
X-ray satellites to study both thermal and nonthermal processes.
Observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory have led to the firm
identification of the type of Kepler's supernova of 1604 as a
thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernova, and to the discovery of the
youngest supernova remnant in the Galaxy, G1.9+0.3, only about 100
years old as observed at Earth. The results for Kepler, along with
another study of older Type Ia remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud,
suggest the possibility of a new class of thermonuclear supernovae, of
considerable interest for studies of cosmic nucleosynthesis and the
origin of the elements, as well as for the use of Type Ia supernovae
for measuring the expansion of the Universe. Reynolds also studies
pulsar-wind nebulae, the bubbles of relativistic particles and
magnetic field inflated by pulsars born in supernova events. Recent
observations of both shell supernova remnants and pulsar-wind nebulae
have been done with the Spitzer Space Telescope at infrared
wavelengths, producing important information on the supernova event
and on the nature of dust grains in the interstellar medium.
Recent Publications
"Steady X-ray Synchrotron Emission in the Northeastern Limb of SN 1006."
Katsuda, Satoru; Petre, Robert; Mori, Koji; Reynolds, Stephen P.; Long, Knox S.; Winkler, P. Frank; Tsunemi, Hiroshi
ApJ
723, 383 (2011)
alternate link to paper
"Particle acceleration in supernova-remnant shocks."
Reynolds, S.P.
Ap&SpSci
336, 257 (2010), (arXiv:1012.1306)
alternate link to paper
"Radioactive Scandium in the Youngest Galactic Supernova Remnant G1.9+0.3."
Borkowski, Kazimierz J.; Reynolds, Stephen P.; Green, David A.; Hwang, Una; Petre, Robert; Krishnamurthy, Kalyani; Willett, Rebecca.
ApJ
724, L161 (2010)
alternate link to paper
"Dusty Blast Waves of Two Young Large Magellanic Cloud Supernova Remnants: Constraints on Post-shock Compression."
Williams, Brian J.; Borkowski, Kazimierz J.; Reynolds, Stephen P.; Ghavamian, Parviz; Raymond, John C.; Long, Knox S.; Blair, William P.; Sankrit, Ravi; Smith, R. Chris; Points, Sean; Winkler, P. Frank; Hendrick, Sean P.
ApJ
729, 65 (2011)
alternate link to paper
"Magnetic Fields in Supernova Remnants and Pulsar-Wind Nebulae."
Reynolds, Stephen P.; Gaensler, B. M.; Bocchino, Fabrizio
SpSciRev, in press
Letter, (2011)
alternate link to paper
"Expansion of the Youngest Galactic Supernova Remnant G1.9+0.3."
Carlton, Ashley K.; Borkowski, Kazimierz J.; Reynolds, Stephen P.; Hwang, Una; Petre, Robert; Green, David A.; Krishnamurthy, Kalyani; Willett, Rebecca
ApJ
737, L22 (2011)
alternate link to paper
"Pulsar Wind Nebulae with Thick Toroidal Structure."
Chevalier, Roger A.; Reynolds, Stephen P.
ApJ
740, L26 (2011)
alternate link to paper
"RCW 86: A Type Ia Supernova in a Wind-blown Bubble."
Williams, Brian J.; Blair, William P.; Blondin, John M.; Borkowski, Kazimierz J.; Ghavamian, Parviz; Long, Knox S.; Raymond, John C.; Reynolds, Stephen P.; Rho, Jeonghee; Winkler, P. Frank
ApJ
741, 96W (2011)
alternate link to paper
You can see more of Professor Reynolds' publications at The NCSU Scholarly Publications Repository
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