Model investigates cosmic ray acceleration in young massive star clusters, suggesting significant energy gains for protons.
Compact young massive star clusters (YMSCs) contain dozens of O-, B-, and WR-type stars with powerful, fast winds within a radius of ~1 pc. In the turbulent environment of such clusters, particle acceleration by ensembles of shock waves and compression/rarefaction waves is possible. This work investigates the propagation and acceleration of particles in YMSCs using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with the open source code PLUTO and its built-in module for solving the equations of motion for test charged particles. It is shown that in the cluster core, near the termination shocks of O-star winds, as well as at the collective wind termination shock, protons are accelerated to energies 100 TeV. The spatial and energy distributions of the particles are investigated.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Kalyashova et al. (2025) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: