Related papers: Shear Acceleration in Expanding Flows
A property common to several different astrophysical sources of high-energy gamma-rays is the presence of bulk motion at relativistic speed. The intrinsic spectra of the nonthermal radiating particles also show interesting similarities,…
Particle energization in shear flows is invoked to explain non-thermal emission from the boundaries of relativistic astrophysical jets. Yet, the physics of particle injection, i.e., the mechanism that allows thermal particles to participate…
High-resolution radio observations of nearby active galactic nuclei have revealed extended, limb-brightened structures in their inner jets. This ties in with other multi-wavelength observations from radio to X-ray and gamma-ray, indicating…
We present Particle-in-Cell simulation results of relativistic shear boundary layers between electron-ion and electron-positron plasmas and discuss their potential applications to astrophysics. Specifically, we find in the case of a fast…
We discuss processes accelerating cosmic ray electrons at boundaries of relativistic jets. The resulting spectrum is expected to posses two characteristic components: a power-law distribution at lower energies and a harder high energy…
A review of theoretical results on cosmic ray first-order Fermi acceleration at relativistic shock waves is presented, with recent results substantially changing the existing knowledge on these processes. In particular one can not expect…
Shear particle acceleration is a promising candidate for the origin of extended high-energy emission in extra-galactic jets. In this paper, we explore the applicability of a shear model to 24 X-ray knots in the large-scale jets of FR II…
We examine Fermi-type acceleration at relativistic shocks, and distinguish between the initial boost of the first shock crossing cycle, where the energy gain per particle can be very large, and the Fermi process proper with repeated shock…
(Abridged)Relativistic outflows carrying large scale magnetic fields have large inductive potential and may accelerate protons to ultra high energies. We discuss a novel scheme of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) acceleration due to…
Shear flows are ubiquitous in astrophysical objects including planetary and stellar interiors, where their dynamics can have significant impact on thermo-chemical processes. Investigating the complex dynamics of shear flows requires…
It is well accepted today that diffusive acceleration in shocks results to the cosmic ray spectrum formation. This is in principle true for non-relativistic shocks, since there is a detailed theory covering a large range of their properties…
Relativistic outflows carrying large scale magnetic fields have large inductive potential and may accelerate protons to ultra high energies. We discuss a novel scheme of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) acceleration due to drifts in…
We have investigated particle acceleration and emission from shocks and shear flows associated with an unmagnetized relativistic jet plasma propagating into an unmagnetized ambient plasma. Strong electro-magnetic fields are generated in the…
Relativistic current sheets have been proposed as the sites of dissipation in pulsar winds, jets in active galaxies and other Poynting-flux dominated flows. It is shown that the steady versions of these structures differ from their…
We model the acceleration of energetic particles due to shear and centrifugal effects in rotating astrophysical jets. The appropriate equation describing the diffusive transport of energetic particles in a collisionless, rotating background…
We investigate stochastic particle acceleration in accretion flows. It is believed that the magnetorotational instability (MRI) generates turbulence inside accretion flows and that cosmic rays (CRs) are accelerated by the turbulence. We…
We examine the possibility that the relativistic jets observed in many active galactic nuclei may be powered by the Fermi acceleration of protons in a tenuous corona above a two-temperature accretion disk. In this picture the acceleration…
Stochastic particle acceleration in turbulent plasmas plays a key role in shaping high-energy emission from relativistic outflows, such as those in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and microquasars. While traditional Fermi-II models provide a…
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 explore a new mechanism for photon energy gain in a relativistic plasma with velocity shear. This process takes place in optically thick plasma and resembles conventional Fermi acceleration, where photons undergo multiple scatterings…