On the Evolution of Supernova Remnants. Evolution of the Magnetic Field, Particles, Content, and Luminosity

Abstract

We investigate the evolution of supernova remnants by assuming that a central pulsar keeps injecting magnetic energy and relativistic particles. Taking into account expansion losses, we can describe the evolution of the nebular magnetic field. The predicted field for the Crab Nebula is about 10- gauss, in agreement with a recent determination. Assuming that the continuous injection of particles follows a power-law spectrum, we investigate the evolution of the energy spectrum for the nebular particles and the resulting synchrotron luminosity. Subject headings: Crab Nebula - supernova remnants