Related papers: Non-Thermal Electron Energization from Magnetic Re…
The study of parametric instabilities has played a crucial role in understanding energy transfer to plasma and, with that, the development of key applications such as inertial confinement fusion. When the densities are between…
An effective theory of laser--plasma based particle acceleration is presented. Here we treated the plasma as a continuous medium with an index of refraction $n_{m}$ in which a single electron propagates. Because of the simplicity of this…
We propose a new approach to high-intensity relativistic laser-driven electron acceleration in a plasma. Here, we demonstrate that a plasma wave generated by a stimulated forward-scattering of an incident laser pulse can be in the longest…
Charge separation effects in the expansion of magnetized relativistic electron-ion plasmas into a vacuum are examined using 2-1/2-dimensional particle-in-cell plasma simulations. The electrostatic field at the plasma surface decelerates…
Magnetic reconnection in relativistic plasmas is well established as a fast and efficient particle accelerator, capable of explaining the most dramatic astrophysical flares. With particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate the importance…
Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe and are held responsible for the production of non-thermal particles and high-energy radiation. In the absence of particle collisions in the system, theoretical works show that the…
Turbulent behavior at sub-proton scales in magnetized plasmas is important for a full understanding of the energetics of astrophysical flows such as the solar wind. We study the formation of electron temperature anisotropy due to…
Collisionless plasma shock theory, which applies for example to the afterglow of gamma ray bursts, still contains key issues that are poorly understood. In this paper we study charged particle dynamics in a highly relativistic collisionless…
Subcluster interactions within clusters of galaxies produce shocks that accelerate nonthermal particles. We treat Fermi acceleration of nonthermal electrons and protons by injecting power-law distributions of particles during the merger…
Electron heating and mixing during asymmetric reconnection are studied with a 3D kinetic simulation that matches plasma parameters from Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft observations of a magnetopause diffusion region. The mixing…
In this article, we study the physics of charged particle energization inside a strongly turbulent plasma, where current sheets naturally appear in evolving large-scale magnetic topologies, but they are split into two populations of…
We present evidence for strong radiative cooling in a pulsed-power-driven magnetic reconnection experiment. Two aluminum exploding wire arrays, driven by a 20 MA peak current, 300 ns rise time pulse from the Z machine (Sandia National…
We investigate the physics of particle acceleration at non-relativistic shocks exploiting two different and complementary approaches, namely a semi-analytic modeling of cosmic-ray modified shocks and large hybrid (kinetic protons/fluid…
Superponderomotive-energy electrons are observed experimentally from the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a relativistically transparent target. For a relativistically transparent target, kinetic modeling shows that the generation…
Warm dense matter (WDM)---an extreme state with high temperatures and densities that occurs e.g. in astrophysical objects---constitutes one of the most active fields in plasma physics and materials science. These conditions can be realized…
This work presents an analysis of the ion outflow from magnetic reconnection throughout fully kinetic simulations with typical laboratory plasmas values. A symmetric initial configuration for the density and magnetic field is considered…
Electron bulk heating during magnetic reconnection with symmetric inflow conditions is examined using kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The degree of electron heating is well correlated with the inflowing Alfv\'en speed $c_{Ar}$…
As long-distance space travel requires propulsion systems with greater operational flexibility and lifetimes, there is a growing interest in electrodeless plasma thrusters that offer the opportunity of improved scalability, larger…
The two stage electron acceleration model [arXiv: 1512.02411 and arXiv: 1512.07546] is extended to the study of laser magnetized-plasmas interactions at relativistic intensities and in the presence of large-scale preformed plasmas. It is…
As a fundamental process converting magnetic to plasma energy in high-energy astrophysical plasmas, relativistic magnetic reconnection is a leading explanation for the acceleration of particles to the ultrarelativistic energies necessary to…