Related papers: Electron acceleration at a low-Mach-number perpend…
We study the pickup ion dynamics and mechanism of multiple reflection and acceleration at the structured quasi-perpendicular supercritical shock. The motion of the pickup ions in the shock is studied analytically and numerically using the…
Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous structures throughout the universe. Shock waves in space and astrophysical plasmas convert the energy of a fast-flowing plasma to other forms of energy, including thermal and magnetic energies. Plasma…
We present a survey of 1D kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of quasi-parallel non-relativistic shocks to identify the environments favorable for electron acceleration. We explore an unprecedented range of shock speeds $v_{\rm sh}\approx…
A study of collisionless external shocks in gamma-ray bursts is presented. The shock structure, electromagnetic fields, and process of electron acceleration are assessed by performing a self-consistent 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation.…
Collisionless shocks tend to send charged particles into the upstream, driving electric currents through the plasma. Using kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate how the background thermal plasma neutralizes such currents in…
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…
We investigate the mechanism of whistler-mode wave generation by shock-reflected electrons at quasi-perpendicular collisionless shocks. By employing Liouville mapping to construct the electron velocity distribution function in the shock and…
Strong shocks in collisionless plasmas, such as supernovae shocks and shocks driven by coronal mass ejections, are known to be a primary source of energetic particles. Due to their different mass per charge ratio, the interaction of heavy…
We investigate the acceleration of light particles in perpendicular shocks for plasmas consisting of a mixture of leptonic and hadronic particles. Starting from the full set of conservation equations for the mixed plasma constituents, we…
Understanding the conditions conducive to particle acceleration at collisionless, non-relativistic shocks is important for the origin of cosmic rays. We use hybrid (kinetic ions -- fluid electrons) kinetic simulations to investigate…
We use large hybrid (kinetic protons-fluid electrons) simulations to investigate the transport of energetic particles in self-consistent electromagnetic configurations of collisionless shocks. In previous papers of this series, we showed…
A one-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation tracks a fast magnetosonic shock over time scales comparable to an inverse ion gyrofrequency. The magnetic pressure is comparable to the thermal pressure upstream. The shock propagates…
We perform particle-in-cell simulations of perpendicular nonrelativistic collisionless shocks to study electron heating and pre-acceleration for parameters that permit extrapolation to the conditions at young supernova remnants. Our…
Laser-driven collisonless electrostatic shock formation and the subsequent ion acceleration have been studied in near critical density plasmas. Particle-in-cell simulations show that both the speed of laser-driven collisionless…
Previous studies of phase mixing of ion cyclotron (IC), Alfv\'enic, waves in the collisionless regime have established the generation of parallel electric field and hence acceleration of electrons in the regions of transverse density…
Recent X-ray observations of merger shocks in galaxy clusters have shown that the post-shock plasma is two-temperature, with the protons hotter than the electrons. By means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we study the…
The energy partition in high Mach number collisionless shock waves is central to a wide range of high-energy astrophysical environments. We present a new theoretical model for electron heating that accounts for the energy exchange between…
Charged particles can be accelerated to high energies by collisionless shock waves in astrophysical environments, such as supernova remnants. By interacting with the magnetized ambient medium, these shocks can transfer energy to particles.…
We discuss 3D simulations of relativistic collisionless shocks in electron-positron pair plasmas using the particle-in-cell (PIC) method. The shock structure is mainly controlled by the shock's magnetization ("sigma" parameter). We…
Collisionless shocks are efficient particle accelerators. At Earth, ions with energies exceeding 100 keV are seen upstream of the bow shock when the magnetic geometry is quasi-parallel, and large-scale supernova remnant shocks can…