Masaaki Kusunose

Most galaxies are supposed to harbor super massive black holes in their central region. Accretion of mass to the black holes liberates gravitational energy. The released energy is used to accelerate particles such as electrons and protons and emit radiation such as radio, optical, X-rays, and gamma-rays. Then relativistic jets of gases observed by radio through very high energy gamma-rays are ejected from the central region of galaxies. I investigate the physics related to these phenomena through numerical calculations. My recent interest is the central black hole of our galaxy (The Milky Way), which is called Sgr A*. Although the radiation from the central region of our galaxy is not luminous, we can observe the details of the central region by radio, infrared, X-rays, and gamma-rays. Using these data, I construct theoretical models to explain high energy phenomena in the Galactic center.

Major relevant publications

1. K. Asano, F. Takahara, M. Kusunose, K. Toma, J. Kakuwa, “Time-dependent Models for Blazar Emission with the ”, The Astrophysical Journal, 780, 64, 2014
2. M. Kusunose, F. Takahara, “A Leptonic Model of Steady High-energy Gamma-ray Emission from Sgr A*”, The Astrophysical Journal, 748, 34, 2012
3. M. Kusunose, F. Takahara, “Synchrotron Blob Model of Infrared and X-ray Flares from Sagittarius A*”, The Astrophysical Journal, 726, 54, 2011
4. Y. Yagi, M.S. Tashiro, N. Isobe, M. Kino, K. Asada, H. Nagai, S. Koyama, M. Kusunose, “Evidence of Non-thermal X-ray Emission from Radio Lobes of Cygnus A” The Astrophysical Journal, 714, 37, 2010
5. M. Kusunose, F. Takahara, The Astrophusical Journal, “Synchrotron Self-Compton Model for PKS 2155-304” The Astrophusical Journal, 682, 784, 2008