MINI REVIEW article
Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. High-Energy and Astroparticle Physics
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Role of Plasmas and Cosmic Magnetism in High-energy Astroparticle PhysicsView all articles
From Shock to Synchrotron: a mini-review on magnetic turbulence in Supernova Remnants
Provisionally accepted
- Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo (INAF), Palermo, Italy
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Magnetic turbulence plays a crucial role in confining charged particles near the shock front of 3 Supernova Remnants, enabling them to reach energies up to hundreds of TeV through a process 4 known as Diffusive Shock Acceleration (DSA). These high-energy electrons spiral along magnetic 5 field lines, emitting X-ray synchrotron radiation. The launch of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer 6 (IXPE) has opened a new window into the study of magnetic fields in SNRs through X-ray polarization 7 measurements. For the first time, IXPE allows us to resolve the polarization degree (PD) and angle 8 (PA) in the X-ray band across different areas of SNRs, offering direct insight into the geometry and 9 coherence of magnetic fields on different scales. In this mini-review, I summarize the key observational 10 results on SNRs obtained with IXPE over the past four years and discuss their implications for our 11 understanding of magnetic turbulence in synchrotron-emitting regions. I also show how we can 12 combine polarization parameters and standard X-ray spectral/imaging analysis to better constrain the 13 structure and scale of magnetic turbulence immediately downstream of the shock and understand the 14 particle acceleration occurring in SNRs.
Keywords: Supernova remnants, Particle Acceleration, Synchrotron radiation, Magnetic turbulence, X-ray polarization, X-rayobservations
Received: 02 Oct 2025; Accepted: 29 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Greco. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Emanuele Greco, emanuele.greco@inaf.it
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