Context :

Aims : A nonlinear kinetic theory of cosmic ray ( CR ) acceleration in supernova remnants ( SNRs ) is employed to investigate the properties of SNR RX J1713.7-3946 .

Methods : Observations of the nonthermal radio and X-ray emission spectra as well as the H.E.S.S .
measurements of the very high energy \gamma -ray emission are used to constrain the astronomical and CR acceleration parameters of the system .
It is argued that RX J1713.7-3946 is a core collapse supernova ( SN ) of type II/Ib with a massive progenitor , has an age of \approx 1600 yr and is at a distance of \approx 1 kpc .
It is in addition assumed that the CR injection/acceleration takes place uniformly across the shock surface for this kind of core collapse SNR .

Results : The theory gives a consistent description for all the existing observational data , including the nondetection of thermal X-rays and the spatial correlation of the X-ray and \gamma -ray emission in the remnant .
Specifically it is shown that an efficient production of nuclear CRs , leading to strong shock modification and a large downstream magnetic field strength B _ { \mathrm { d } } \approx 140 \mu G can reproduce in detail the observed synchrotron emission from radio to X-ray frequencies together with the \gamma -ray spectral characteristics as observed by the H.E.S.S .
telescopes .

Conclusions : The calculations are consistent with RX J1713.7-3946 being an efficient source of nuclear cosmic rays .