Related papers: Two-dimensional PIC simulations of ion-beam instab…
The growth and saturation of Buneman-type instabilities is examined with a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation for parameters that are representative for the foreshock region of fast supernova remnant (SNR) shocks. A dense ion beam and the…
Two charge- and current neutral plasma beams are modelled with a one-dimensional PIC simulation. The beams are uniform and unbounded. The relative speed between both beams is 0.4c. One beam is composed of electrons and protons and one out…
The collision of two plasma clouds at a speed that exceeds the ion acoustic speed can result in the formation of shocks. This phenomenon is observed not only in astrophysical scenarios such as the propagation of supernova remnant (SNR)…
A case of two interpenetrating, cold and quasi-neutral ion-electron plasmas is investigated with the multi-fluid approach. We consider that one plasma flows quasi-parallel to the lines of a background magnetic field embedded in another…
We examine with a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation the collision of two equally dense clouds of cold pair plasma. The clouds interpenetrate until instabilities set in, which heat up the plasma and trigger the formation of a pair of shocks.…
Plasma processes close to SNR shocks result in the amplification of magnetic fields and in the acceleration of electrons, injecting them into the diffusive acceleration mechanism. The acceleration of electrons and the B field amplification…
A pair of curved shocks in a collisionless plasma is examined with a two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The shocks are created by the collision of two electron-ion clouds at a speed that exceeds everywhere the threshold…
We study with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations the stability of fast magnetosonic shocks. They expand across a collisionless plasma and an orthogonal magnetic field that is aligned with one of the directions resolved by the 2D…
A two-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulation with the realistic ion-to-electron mass ratio of 1836 is carried out to investigate the electrostatic collisionless shocks in relatively high-speed (~3000 km s^-1) plasma flows…
We present a three-dimensional hybrid simulation of a collisionless perpendicular shock in a partially ionized plasma for the first time. In this simulation, the shock velocity and the upstream ionization fraction are Vsh ~ 1333 km/s and fi…
We present the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results of the interaction of a high-energy lepton plasma flow with background electron-proton plasma and focus on the acceleration processes of the protons. It is found that the acceleration…
We use particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of a collisionless, electron-ion plasma with a decreasing background magnetic field, $B$, to study the effect of velocity-space instabilities on the viscous heating and thermal conduction of the…
The formation of unmagnetized electrostatic shock-like structures with a high Mach number is examined with one- and two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The structures are generated through the collision of two identical…
In supernova remnants, the nonlinear amplification of magnetic fields upstream of collisionless shocks is essential for the acceleration of cosmic rays to the energy of the "knee" at 10^{15.5}eV. A nonresonant instability driven by the…
Electrostatic behavior of a collisionless plasma in the foot region of high Mach number perpendicular shocks is investigated through the two-dimensional linear analysis and electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The simulations…
Nonrelativistic electrostatic unmagnetized shocks are frequently observed in laboratory plasmas and they are likely to exist in astrophysical plasmas. Their maximum speed, expressed in units of the ion acoustic speed far upstream of the…
Energetic electromagnetic emissions by astrophysical jets like those that are launched during the collapse of a massive star and trigger gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are partially attributed to relativistic internal shocks. The shocks are…
The plasma dynamics resulting from the simultaneous impact, of two equal, ultra-intense laser pulses, in two spatially separated spots, onto a dense target is studied via particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The simulations show that…
Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in astrophysics and in the lab. Recent numerical simulations and experiments have shown how they can arise from the encounter of two collisionless plasma shells. When the shells interpenetrate, the…
The identification of pre-acceleration mechanisms for cosmic ray ions in supernova remnant shocks is an important problem in astrophysics. Recent particle-in-cell (PIC) shock simulations have shown that inclusion of the full electron…