Understanding the multi-wavelength emission from astrophysical shocks

Interpreting observations of the universe’s most energetic phenomena requires a detailed understanding of particle acceleration in astrophysical environments. In particular, these accelerated particles, or cosmic rays, are responsible for non-thermal emission observed in supernova remnants, novae, AGN winds, and a host of other astrophysical shocks. In this talk I will review the current paradigm of shock acceleration and present a fast, multi-zone modeling framework that self-consistently incorporates findings from state-of-the-art kinetic simulations. This model has been used to reproduce the multi-wavelength emission from a variety of astrophysical objects, including the steep radio and gamma-ray spectra inferred from Galactic supernova remnants, radio and X-ray observations from extragalactic supernovae (“radio supernovae”), the GeV and TeV emission detected from the recent outburst of recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi, and the gamma-rays detected from fast AGN winds.