Related papers: Slow down of a globally neutral relativistic $e^-e…
We study the kinetic plasma dynamics in collisionless relativistic jets with velocity shear, by carrying out particle-in-cell simulations in the transverse plane of a jet. It is discovered that intermittent magnetic reconnections (MRs) are…
Electron-scale surface waves are shown to be unstable in the transverse plane of a shear flow in an initially unmagnetized plasma, unlike in the (magneto)hydrodynamics case. It is found that these unstable modes have a higher growth rate…
The nonlinear state of a high-beta collisionless plasma is investigated when an imposed linear shear amplifies or diminishes a uniform magnetic field, driving pressure anisotropies and hence firehose/mirror instabilities. The evolution of…
Electron beams in two-dimensional systems can provide a useful tool to study energy-momentum relaxation of electrons and to generate microwave radiation stemming from plasma-beam instabilities. Naturally, these two applications cannot…
Using 2.5-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations, we study the kinetic physics of relativistic shear flow boundary in collisionless electron-positron (e+e-) plasmas. We find efficient magnetic field generation and particle energization at…
Hybrid-kinetic numerical simulations of firehose and mirror instabilities in a collisionless plasma are performed in which pressure anisotropy is driven as the magnetic field is changed by a persistent linear shear $S$. For a decreasing…
Mushroom instability (MI) is a shear instability considered responsible for generating and amplifying magnetic fields in relativistic jets. While astrophysical jets are usually magnetized, how MI acts in magnetized jets remains poorly…
The effect of magnetic shear and shear flow on local gravitationally induced instabilities is investigated. A simple model is constructed allowing for an arbitrary entropy gradient and a shear plasma flow in the Boussinesq approximation. A…
We have extended our study of the competition between the drive and stabilization of plasma microinstabilities by sheared flow to include electromagnetic effects at low plasma $\beta$ (the ratio of plasma to magnetic pressure). The extended…
Collisionless tearing instability with a power-law distribution function in a relativistic pair plasma with a guide field is studied. When the current sheet is supported by plasma pressure, the tearing mode is suppressed as the particle…
Magnetised plasma turbulence can have a multiscale character: instabilities driven by mean temperature gradients drive turbulence at the disparate scales of the ion and the electron gyroradii. Simulations of multiscale turbulence, using…
We describe local shearing box simulations of turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in a collisionless plasma. Collisionless effects may be important in radiatively inefficient accretion flows, such as near the black…
Quantum and collisional effects on the unstable spectrum of a relativistic electron beam-plasma system are investigated through a two-fluids model. Application is made to the near target center interaction of the relativistic electron beam…
The magnetorotational instability (MRI) is a fundamental mechanism determining the macroscopic dynamics of astrophysical accretion disks. In collisionless accretion flows around supermassive black holes, MRI-driven plasma turbulence…
Buneman instability is often driven in magnetic reconnection. Understanding how velocity shear in the beams driving the Buneman instability affects the growth and saturation of waves is relevant to turbulence, heating, and diffusion in…
We study the long term evolution of magnetic fields generated by a collisionless relativistic $e^+e^-$ shock which is initially unmagnetized. Our 2D particle-in-cell numerical simulations show that downstream of such a Weibel-mediated…
The instability of a monoenergetic electron beam in a collisional one-dimensional plasma bounded between grounded walls is considered both analytically and numerically. Collisions between electrons and neutrals are accounted for the plasma…
The kinetic description of relativistic plasmas in the presence of time-varying and spatially non-uniform electromagnetic fields is a fundamental theoretical issue both in astrophysics and plasma physics. This refers, in particular, to the…
In this work, the development of two-dimensional current sheets with respect to tearing-modes, in collisionless plasmas with a strong guide field, is analysed. During their non-linear evolution, these thin current sheets can become unstable…
Observations and numerical simulations of laboratory and space plasmas in almost collisionless regimes reveal anisotropic and non-gyrotropic particle distribution functions. We investigate how such states can persist in the presence of a…