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Supernova remnants (SNRs) are among the most important targets for gamma-ray observatories. Being prominent non-thermal sources, they are very likely responsible for the acceleration of the bulk of Galactic cosmic rays (CRS). To firmly establish the SNR paradigm for the origin of cosmic rays, it should be confirmed that protons are indeed accelerated in, and released from, SNRs with the appropriate flux and spectrum. This can be done by detailed theoretical models which account for microphysics of acceleration and various radiation processes of hadrons and leptons. The current generation of Cherenkov telescopes has insufficient sensitivity to constrain theoretical models. A new facility, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), will have superior capabilities and may finally resolve this long standing issue of high-energy astrophysics. We want to assess the capabilities of CTA to reveal the physics of various types of SNRs in the initial 2000 years of their evolution. During this time, the efficiency to accelerate cosmic rays is highest. We perform time-dependent simulations of the hydrodynamics, the magnetic fields, the cosmic-ray acceleration, and the non-thermal emission for type Ia, Ic and IIP SNRs. We calculate the CTA response to the y-ray emission from these SNRs for various ages and distances, and we perform a realistic analysis of the simulated data. We derive distance limits for the detectability and resolvability of these SNR types at several ages. We test the ability of CTA to reconstruct their morphological and spectral parameters as a function of their distance. Finally, we estimate how well CTA data will constrain the theoretical models. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
While N-body simulations suggest a cuspy profile in the centra of the dark matter halos of galaxies, the majority of astronomical observations favor a relatively soft cored density distribution of these regions. The routine method of testing the convergence of N-body simulations (in particular, the negligibility of two-body scattering effect) is to find the conditions under which formed structures is insensitive to numerical parameters. The results obtained with this approach suggest a surprisingly minor role of the particle collisions: the central density profile remains untouched and close to the Navarro-Frenk-White shape, even if the simulation time significantly exceeds the collisional relaxation time tau(r). In order to check the influence of the unphysical test body collisions we use the Fokker-Planck equation. It turns out that a profile rho proportional to r(-beta) where beta similar or equal to 1 is an attractor: the Fokker-Planck diffusion transforms any reasonable initial distribution into it in a time shorter than tau(r), and then the cuspy profile should survive much longer than tau(r), since the Fokker-Planck diffusion is self-compensated if beta similar or equal to 1. Thus the purely numerical effect of test body scattering may create a stable NFW-like pseudosolution. Moreover, its stability may be mistaken for the simulation convergence. We present analytical estimations for this potential bias effect and call for numerical tests. For that purpose, we suggest a simple test that can be performed as the simulation progresses and would indicate the magnitude of the collisional influence and the veracity of the simulation results. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.