Backward asymmetry of the Compton scattering by an isotropic distribution of relativistic electrons: astrophysical implications

Abstract

The angular distribution of low-frequency radiation after single scattering by an isotropic distribution of relativistic electrons considerably differs from the Rayleigh angular function. In particular, the scattering by an ensemble of ultra-relativistic electrons obeys the law p=1-cos(alpha), where alpha is the scattering angle; hence photons are preferentially scattered backwards. We discuss some consequences of this fact for astrophysical problems. We show that a hot electron-scattering atmosphere is more reflective than a cold one: the fraction of incident photons which become reflected having suffered a single scattering event can be larger by up to 50 per cent in the former case. This should affect the photon exchange between cold accretion disks and hot coronae or ADAF flows in the vicinity of relativistic compact objects; as well as the rate of cooling (through multiple inverse-Compton scattering of seed photons supplied from outside) of optically thick clouds of relativistic electrons in compact radiosources. The forward-backward scattering asymmetry also causes spatial diffusion of photons to proceed slower in hot plasma than in cold one, which is important for the shapes of Comptonization spectra and the time delays between soft and hard radiations coming from variable X-ray sources.