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Similar phenomena at different scales: black holes, the Sun, γ-ray bursts, supernovae, galaxies and galaxy clusters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2006

Shuang Nan Zhang
Shuang Nan Zhang*
Affiliation:
Physics Department and Center for Astrophysics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China email: [email protected] Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Abstract

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Many similar phenomena occur in astrophysical systems with spatial and mass scales different by many orders of magnitudes. For examples, collimated outflows are produced from the Sun, proto-stellar systems, gamma-ray bursts, neutron star and black hole X-ray binaries, and supermassive black holes; various kinds of flares occur from the Sun, stellar coronae, X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei; shocks and particle acceleration exist in supernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts, clusters of galaxies, etc. In this report I summarize briefly these phenomena and possible physical mechanisms responsible for them. I emphasize the importance of using the Sun as an astrophysical laboratory in studying these physical processes, especially the roles magnetic fields play in them; it is quite likely that magnetic activities dominate the fundamental physical processes in all of these systems.

As a case study, I show that X-ray lightcurves from solar flares, black hole binaries and gamma-ray bursts exhibit a common scaling law of non-linear dynamical properties, over a dynamical range of several orders of magnitudes in intensities, implying that many basic X-ray emission nodes or elements are inter-connected over multi-scales. A future high timing and imaging resolution solar X-ray instrument, aimed at isolating and resolving the fundamental elements of solar X-ray lightcurves, may shed new lights onto the fundamental physical mechanisms, which are common in astrophysical systems with vastly different mass and spatial scales. Using the Sun as an astrophysical laboratory, “Applied Solar Astrophysics” will deepen our understanding of many important astrophysical problems.

Keywords

Sun: flaresSun: coronaSun: X-raysX-rays: binaries: individual (Cygnus X-1)accretion disksmagnetic fieldsgamma rays: bursts: individual (GRB940217)supernovae: individual (SN 1987A)galaxies: active: individual (M 87)black hole physics
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 2 , Highlights of Astronomy 14: Highlights of Astronomy , August 2006 , pp. 41 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2007

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