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Related papers: Physics of relativistic shocks

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Mildly relativistic shocks in magnetized electron-ion plasmas are investigated with 2D kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of unprecedentedly high resolution and large scale for conditions that may be found at internal shocks in blazar…

The filamentation instability (sometimes also referred to as "Weibel") is a key process in many astrophysical scenario. In the Fireball model for Gamma Ray Bursts, this instability is believed to mediate collisionless shock formation from…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-05-28 Antoine Bret , Erica Perez Alvaro

The head-on collision between electrostatic shocks is studied via multi-dimensional Particle-In-Cell simulations. It is found that the shock velocities drop significantly and a strong magnetic field is generated after the interaction. This…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2019-06-19 E. Boella , K. Schoeffler , N. Shukla , G. Lapenta , R. Fonseca , L. O. Silva

We study the long term evolution of magnetic fields generated by an initially unmagnetized collisionless relativistic $e^+e^-$ shock. Our 2D particle-in-cell numerical simulations show that downstream of such a Weibel-mediated shock,…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-06-23 Philip Chang , Anatoly Spitkovsky , Jonathan Arons

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-06-23 Uri Keshet , Boaz Katz , Anatoly Spitkovsky , Eli Waxman

A relativistic collisionless shock propagating into an unmagnetized medium leaves behind a strong large-scale magnetic field. This seems to follow from two assumptions: (i) GRB afterglows are explained by synchrotron emission of a…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-06 Andrei Gruzinov

We present results of 2D3V particle-in-cell simulations of non-relativistic plasma collisions with absent or parallel large-scale magnetic field for parameters applicable to the conditions at young supernova remnants. We study the collision…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-06-11 Jacek Niemiec , Martin Pohl , Antoine Bret , Volkmar Wieland

Nonthermal radiation observed from astrophysical systems containing relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and microquasars commonly exhibit power-law emission spectra. Recent PIC…

Observations of afterglows of gamma-ray bursts suggest (GRBs) that post-shock magnetic fields are strongly amplified to about 100 times the shock-compressed value. The Weibel instability appears to play an important role in generating of…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-07-13 Sara Tomita , Yutaka Ohira

Nonthermal radiation observed from astrophysical systems containing relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and Galactic microquasar systems usually have power-law emission spectra. Recent…

Relativistic collisionless shocks in electron-ion plasma are thought to occur in the afterglow phase of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), and in other environments where relativistic flows interact with the interstellar medium. A particular regime…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Anatoly Spitkovsky

The physics of instabilities in the precursor of relativistic collisionless shocks is of broad importance in high energy astrophysics, because these instabilities build up the shock, control the particle acceleration process and generate…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-06-18 M. Lemoine , G. Pelletier , L. Gremillet , I. Plotnikov

The quantum effect on the Weibel instability in an unmagnetized plasma is presented. Our analysis shows that the quantum effect tends to stabilize the Weibel instability in the hydrodynamic regime, whereas it produces a new oscillatory…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2015-05-13 Levan N. Tsintsadze , P. K. Shukla

Employing linearized Vlasov-Maxwell system, the Weibel instability embedded in an ambient magnetic field is discussed for a semi-relativistic bi-Maxwellian distribution hoping such a scenario occurs in some relativistic environments e.g.,…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2013-09-04 M. F. Bashir , S. Zaheer , Z. Iqbal , G. Murtaza

The Weibel instability from counterstreaming plasma flows is a basic process highly relevant for collisionless shock formation in astrophysics. In this Letter we investigate, via two- and three- dimensional simulations, suitable…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2017-10-04 Anna Grassi , Mickael Grech , Francois Amiranoff , Andrea Macchi , Caterina Riconda

We propose that strong magnetic fields should be generated at shock waves associated with formation of galaxies or clusters of galaxies by the Weibel instability, an instability in collisionless plasmas. The strength of the magnetic fields…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Yutaka Fujita , Tsunehiko N. Kato

We investigate the physics of quasi-parallel trans-relativistic shocks propagating in weakly magnetized plasmas by means of long-duration two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The structure of the shock precursor is shaped by a…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-02-09 Taiki Jikei , Daniel Groselj , Lorenzo Sironi

The current status of the theory of particle acceleration at relativistic shocks is presented, and a few possible scenarios for ultra-high-energy cosmic ray production at such shocks are briefly discussed.

Astrophysics · Physics 2010-11-11 Jacek Niemiec

The filamentation (Weibel) instability plays a key role in the formation of collisionless shocks which are thought to produce Gamma-Ray-Bursts and High-Energy-Cosmic-Rays in astrophysical environments. While it has been known for long that…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2015-06-18 Antoine Bret

The role of the Weibel instability is investigated for the first time in the context of the large-scale magnetic reconnection problem. A late-time evolution of magnetic reconnection in relativistic pair plasmas is demonstrated by…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-06-29 S. Zenitani , M. Hesse