Related papers: Ion dynamics and acceleration in relativistic shoc…
Self-trapping and acceleration of ions in laser-driven relativistically transparent plasma are investigated with the help of particle-in-cell simulations. A theoretical model based on ion wave breaking is established in describing ion…
We review recent progress on collisionless relativistic shocks. Kinetic instability theory is briefed including its predictions and limitations. The main focus is on numerical experiments in (i) pair and (ii) electron-nucleon plasmas. The…
We present a parametric study based on 1-D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations conducted with the objective of understanding the interaction of intense lasers with near-critical non-uniform density gas targets. Specifically, we aim to find…
Energetic electrons are a common feature of interplanetary shocks and planetary bow shocks, and they are invoked as a key component of models of nonthermal radio emission, such as solar radio bursts. A simulation study is carried out of…
In the past two decades, laser-accelerated ion sources and their applications have been intensely researched. Recently, it has been shown through experiments that proton beams with characteristics comparable to those obtained with solid…
The paper is devoted to the prospects of using the laser radiation interaction with plasmas in the laboratory relativistic astrophysics context. We discuss the dimensionless parameters characterizing the processes in the laser and…
Radiative damping in plasma-based electron accelerators is analyzed. The electron dynamics under combined influence of the constant accelerating force and the classical radiation reaction force is studied. It is shown that electron…
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…
Particle acceleration consequences from fluctuating electric fields superposed on an X-type magnetic field in collisionless solar plasma are studied. Such a system is chosen to mimic generic features of dynamic reconnection, or the…
We review the physics of relativistic shocks, which are often invoked as the sources of non-thermal particles in pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets, and as possible sources of…
Cosmic-ray acceleration processes in astrophysical plasmas are often investigated with fully-kinetic or hybrid kinetic numerical simulations, which enable us to describe a detailed microphysics of particle energization mechanisms. Tracing…
The interaction of partially ionized plasmas with an electromagnetic field is investigated using quantum statistical methods. A general statistical expression for the current density of a plasma in an electromagnetic field is presented and…
Electron accelerations at high Mach number collision-less shocks are investigated by means of two-dimensional electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell simulations with various Alfven Mach numbers, ion-to-electron mass ratios, and the upstream…
This paper overviews experimental and numerical results on acceleration of narrow energy spread ion beams by an electrostatic collisionless shockwave driven by 1 um (Omega EP) and 10 um (UCLA Neptune Laboratory) lasers in near critical…
Shear flows are ubiquitously present in space and astrophysical plasmas. This paper highlights the central idea of the non-thermal acceleration of charged particles in shearing flows and reviews some of the recent developments. Topics…
Electron and ion energization (i.e., heating and nonthermal acceleration) is a fundamental, but poorly understood, outcome of plasma turbulence. In this work, we present new results on this topic from particle-in-cell simulations of driven…
The theory of particle acceleration at shock fronts is briefly reviewed, with special emphasis on the production of the particles responsible for the nonthermal emission from blazars. The flat radio/IR spectra of these sources cannot be…
The physics of particle acceleration in turbulent plasmas is a topic of broad interest, which is making rapid progress thanks to dedicated, large-scale numerical experiments. The first part of this paper presents an effective theory of…
We investigate the acceleration of charged particles (both electrons and protons) at collisionless shocks predicted to exist in the vicinity of solar flares. The existence of standing termination shocks has been examined by flare models and…
We study relativistic unmagnetized collisionless shocks using unprecedentedly large particle-in-cell simulations of two-dimensional pair plasma. High energy particles accelerated by the shock are found to drive magnetic field evolution on a…