Related papers: Two-dimensional PIC simulations of ion-beam instab…
Magnetar-powered supernova explosions are competitive models for explaining very luminous optical transits. However, these explosion models were mainly calculated in 1D. Radiation emitted from the magnetar snowplows into the previous…
Recent gamma-ray observations of middle-aged supernova remnants revealed a mysterious broken power-law spectrum. Using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations, we show that the interaction between a supernova blast wave and…
Two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations explore the collisionless tearing instability developing in a Harris equilibrium configuration in a pair (electron-positron) plasma, with no guide field, for a range of parameters from…
Nonlinear interaction of a low density electron beam with a uniform plasma is studied using two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. We focus on formation of coherent phase space structures in the case, when a wide…
Microscopic instability and macroscopic flow pattern resulting from colliding plasmas are studied analytically in support of laboratory experiments. The plasma flows are assumed to stream radially from two separate centers. In a…
The nonlinear development of streaming instabilities in the current layers formed during magnetic reconnection with a guide field is explored. Theory and 3-D particle-in-cell simulations reveal two distinct phases. First, the parallel…
Magnetized collisionless shocks drive particle acceleration broadly in space and astrophysics. We perform the first large-scale particle-in-cell simulations with realistic laboratory parameters (density, temperature, and velocity) to…
Radiative shock waves show a strong cooling instability at temperatures above approximately 2 times 10^5 K. We numerically investigate this instability by simulating different astronomical objects in which colliding flows play an…
An electron or electron-positron beam streaming through a plasma is notoriously prone to micro-instabilities. For a dilute ultrarelativistic infinite beam, the dominant instability is a mixed mode between longitudinal two-stream and…
The expansion of a magnetized high-pressure plasma into a low-pressure ambient medium is examined with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The magnetic field points perpendicularly to the plasma's expansion direction and binary collisions…
In addition to electrons and protons, nonrelativistic quasiparallel shocks are expected to possess the ability to accelerate heavy ions. The shocks in supernova remnants are generally supposed to be accelerators of the Galactic cosmic rays,…
The theory of diffusive particle acceleration explains the spectral properties of the cosmic rays below energies of approx. 10^6 GeV as produced at strong shocks in supernova remnants (SNR's). To supply the observed flux of cosmic rays, a…
Many problems in astrophysics involve relativistic outflows. The plasma dynamics in these scenarios is critical to determine the conditions for the self-consistent evolution of the fields and particle acceleration. Advances in computer…
Thermal electrons cannot directly participate in the process of diffusive acceleration at electron-ion shocks because their Larmor radii are smaller than the shock transition width: this is the well-known electron injection problem of…
The thin-shell instability has been named as one process, which can generate entangled structures in astrophysical plasma on collisional (fluid) scales. It is driven by a spatially varying imbalance between the ram pressure of the inflowing…
The study of collisionless shocks and their role in cosmic-ray acceleration has gained increasing importance through both observations and simulations. Accurately modeling the shock transition region, where particle injection occurs,…
The relationship between a decaying strong turbulence and kinetic instabilities in a slowly expanding plasma is investigated using two-dimensional (2-D) hybrid expanding box simulations. We impose an initial ambient magnetic field…
Electrostatic two-stream instabilities play essential roles in an electrostatic collisionless shock formation. They are a key dissipation mechanism and result in ion heating and acceleration. Since the number and energy of the…
The localized deposition of the energy of a laser pulse, as it ablates a solid target, introduces high thermal pressure gradients in the plasma. The thermal expansion of this laser-heated plasma into the ambient medium (ionized residual…
It has long been suggested that shocks might play an important role in altering the form of the interstellar medium (ISM). Shocks enhance gas density and sufficiently dense regions may become self gravitating. Potential star forming clouds…