Synchrotron aging and the radio spectrum of SN 1993J

Poonam Chandra, Alak Ray, Sanjay Bhatnagar

Published 2004-02-17Version 1

We combine the GMRT low frequency radio observations of SN 1993J with the VLA high frequency radio data to get a near simultaneous spectrum around day 3200 since explosion. The low frequency measurements of the supernova determine the turnover frequency and flux scale of the composite spectrum and help reveal a steepening in the spectral index, $\Delta \alpha \sim 0.6$, in the optically thin part of the spectrum. This is the first observational evidence of a break in the radio spectrum of a young supernova. We associate this break with the phenomenon of synchrotron aging of radiating electrons. From the break in the spectrum we calculate the magnetic field in the shocked region independent of the equipartition assumption between energy density of relativistic particles and magnetic energy density. We determine the ratio of these two energy densities and find that this ratio is in the range: $8\times 10^{-6}-5\times 10^{-4}$. We also predict the nature of the evolution of the synchrotron break frequency with time, with competing effects due to diffusive Fermi acceleration and adiabatic expansion of the radiative electron plasma.