Related papers: A critical Mach number for electron injection in c…
Collisionless shocks heat electrons in the solar wind, interstellar blast waves, and hot gas permeating galaxy clusters. How much shock heating goes to electrons instead of ions, and what plasma physics controls electron heating? We…
A new numerical model of the nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration is presented. It is used for modeling of particle acceleration in supernova remnants. The model contains coupled spherically symmetric hydrodynamic equations and the…
Electrons can be accelerated to ultrarelativistic energies at strong (high-Mach number) collisionless shock waves that form when stellar debris rapidly expands after a supernova. Collisionless shock waves also form in the flow of particles…
This research was motivated by the recent observations indicating very strong magnetic fields at some supernova remnant shocks, which suggests in-situ generation of magnetic turbulence. The dissertation presents a numerical model of…
A full particle simulation study is carried out on a perpendicular collisionless shock with a relatively low Alfven Mach number (M_A=5). In the present study, we have performed a two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetic full particle simulation…
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…
In this thesis different numerical methods, as well as applications of the methods to a number of current problems in relativistic astrophysics, are presented. In the first part the theoretical foundation and numerical implementation of a…
The injection rate of suprathermal protons into the diffusive shock acceleration process should vary strongly over the surface of supernova remnant shocks. These variations and the absolute value of the injection rate are investigated. In…
One of the main features of astrophysical shocks is their ability to accelerate particles to extremely high energies. The leading acceleration mechanism, the diffusive shock acceleration is reviewed. It is demonstrated that its efficiency…
During the formation of large-scale structures in the universe, weak internal shocks are induced within the hot ICM, while strong accretion shocks arise in the WHIM within filaments, and the warm-cold gas in voids surrounding galaxy…
Radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray observations provide us with strong evidence of particle acceleration to multi-TeV energies in various astrophysical sources. Diffusive shock acceleration is one of the most successful models explaining the…
Shocks waves are a ubiquitous feature of many astrophysical plasma systems, and an important process for energy dissipation and transfer. The physics of these shock waves are frequently treated/modeled as a collisional, fluid MHD…
We use 2D and 3D hybrid (kinetic ions - fluid electrons) simulations to investigate particle acceleration and magnetic field amplification at non-relativistic astrophysical shocks. We show that diffusive shock acceleration operates for…
According to structure formation simulations, weak shocks with typical Mach number, $M_{\rm s}\lesssim 3$, are expected to form in merging galaxy clusters. The presence of such shocks has been indicated by X-ray and radio observations of…
Fully kinetic two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are used to study electron acceleration at high-Mach-number nonrelativistic perpendicular shocks. SNR shocks are mediated by the Weibel instability which is excited because of an…
Energy dissipation in collisionless shocks is a key mechanism in various astrophysical environments. Its non-linear nature complicates analytical understanding and necessitate Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations. This study examines the…
The effect of compressibility on the onset of nonhelical turbulent dynamo action is investigated using both direct simulations as well as simulations with shock-capturing viscosities, keeping however the regular magnetic diffusivity. It is…
We show that the Weibel-mediated collisionless shocks are driven at non-relativistic propagation speed (0.1c < V < 0.45c) in unmagnetized electron-ion plasmas by performing two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that the…
Collisionless shocks are pervasive in astrophysics and they are critical to understand cosmic ray acceleration. Laboratory experiments with intense lasers are now opening the way to explore and characterise the underlying microphysics,…
We have performed 2D hybrid simulations of non-relativistic collisionless shocks in the presence of pre-existing energetic particles ("seeds"); such a study applies, for instance, to the re-acceleration of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) in…