New Probability Distributions in Astrophysics: IV. The Relativistic Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution
- 1 Physics Department, via P.Giuria 1, Turin, Italy
Abstract
Two relativistic distributions which generalize the Maxwell Boltzman (MB) distribution are analyzed: the relativistic MB and the Maxwell-Jüttner (MJ) distribution. For the two distributions, we derived in terms of special functions the constant of normalization, the average value, the second moment about the origin, the variance, the mode, the asymptotic behavior, approximate expressions for the average value as function of the temperature and the connected inverted expressions for the temperature as function of the average value. Two astrophysical applications to the synchrotron emission in presence of the magnetic field and the relativistic electrons are presented.
- Maxwell, J.C. (1860) V. Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gases.—Part I. On the Motions and Collisions of Perfectly Elastic Spheres. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 19, 19-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786446008642818
- Boltzmann, L. (1872) Weitere Studien über das Wärmegleichgewicht unter Gasmolekülen. Sitzungsberichte Akademie der Wissenschaften, 66, 275-370.
- Jüttner, F. (1911) Das maxwellsche gesetz der geschwindigkeitsverteilung in der relativtheorie. Annalen der Physik, 339, 856. https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.19113390503
- Synge, J. (1957) The Relativistic Gas. North-Holland, New York.
- Livadiotis, G. (2016) Modeling Anisotropic Maxwell-Jüttner Distributions: Derivation and Properties. Annales Geophysicae, 34, 1145-1158. https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-1145-2016
- Tsouros, A. and Kylafis, N.D. (2017) The Energy Distribution of Electrons in Radio Jets. A&A, 603, L4. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201730749
- Aragón-Muñoz, L. and Chacón-Acosta, G. (2018) Modified Relativistic Jüttner-Like Distribution Functions with η-Parameter. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1030, Article ID: 012004. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1030/1/012004
- Sadegzadeh, S. and Mousavi, A. (2018) Maxwell-Jüttner Distributed Counterstreaming Magnetoplasmas—Parallel Propagation. Physics of Plasmas, 25, Article ID: 112107. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5054830
- Freund, J. (2008) Special Relativity for Beginners: A Textbook for Undergraduates. World Scientific Press, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1142/6601
- Claycomb, J. (2018) Mathematical Methods for Physics: Using MATLAB and Maple. Mercury Learning & Information, Boston.
- Meijer, C. (1936) über Whittakersche bzw. Besselsche Funktionen und deren Produkte. Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde, 18, 10-39.
- Meijer, C. (1941) Multiplikationstheoreme fur die Funktion G p,q m,n (Z). Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie, 44, 1062-1070.
- Olver, F.W.J., Lozier, D.W., Boisvert, R.F. and Clark, C.W. (2010) NIST Handbook of Mathematical Functions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- Brandt, S. and Gowan, G. (1998) Data Analysis: Statistical and Computational Methods for Scientists and Engineers. Springer & Verlag, New York.