Multi-Mission Observations of Relativistic Electrons and High-Speed Jets Linked to Shock Generated Transients
Abstract
Shock-generated transients, such as hot flow anomalies (HFAs), upstream of planetary bow shocks, play a critical role in electron acceleration. Using multi-mission data from NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) and ESA's Cluster missions, we demonstrate the transmission of HFAs through Earth's quasi-parallel bow shock, associated with acceleration of electrons up to relativistic energies. Energetic electrons, initially accelerated upstream, are shown to remain broadly confined within the transmitted transient structures downstream, where betatron acceleration further boosts their energy due to elevated compression levels. Additionally, high-speed jets form at the compressive edges of HFAs, exhibiting a significant increase in dynamic pressure and potentially contributing to driving further localized compression. Our findings emphasize the efficiency of quasi-parallel shocks in driving particle acceleration far beyond the immediate shock transition region, expanding the acceleration region to a larger spatial domain. Finally, this study underscores the importance of multi-scale observational approach in understanding the convoluted processes behind collisionless shock physics and their broader implications.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2411.12815,
title = {Multi-Mission Observations of Relativistic Electrons and High-Speed Jets Linked to Shock Generated Transients},
author = {Savvas Raptis and Martin Lindberg and Terry Z. Liu and Drew L. Turner and Ahmad Lalti and Yufei Zhou and Primož Kajdič and Athanasios Kouloumvakos and David G. Sibeck and Laura Vuorinen and Adam Michael and Mykhaylo Shumko and Adnane Osmane and Eva Krämer and Lucile Turc and Tomas Karlsson and Christos Katsavrias and Lynn B. Wilson and Hadi Madanian and Xóchitl Blanco-Cano and Ian J. Cohen and C. Philippe Escoubet},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.12815},
year = {2026}
}