2010A&A...511A..34B

A nonlinear kinetic theory of cosmic ray (CR) acceleration in supernova remnants (SNRs) is employed to investigate the properties of SNR RX J1713.7-3946. Observations of the nonthermal radio and X-ray emission spectra, as well as the HESS measurements of the very high energy γ-rayemission, are used to constrain the astronomical and CR acceleration parameters of the system. It is argued that RX J1713.7-3946 is a core collapse supernova (SN) of type II/Ib with a massive progenitor, and it has an age of ≃1600yr and is at a distance of ≃1kpc. It is also assumed that the CR injection/acceleration takes place uniformly across the shock surface for this kind of core collapse SNR. The theory gives a consistent description for all the existing observational data, including the nondetection of thermal X-rays and the spatial correlation of the X-ray and γ-rayemission in the remnant. Specifically, it is shown that an efficient production of nuclear CRs, leading to strong shock modification and a strong downstream magnetic field B_d≃140µG can reproduce in detail the observed synchrotron emission from radio to X-ray frequencies, together with the γ-rayspectral characteristics as observed by the HESS telescopes. The calculations are consistent with RX J1713.7-3946 being an efficient source of nuclear CRs.