Related papers: Propagation speed, linear stability, and ion accel…
It is argued and demonstrated by particle-in-cell simulations that the synchrotron maser instability could develop at the front of a relativistic, magnetized shock. The instability generates strong low-frequency electromagnetic waves…
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…
We assess the impact of non-thermally shock-accelerated particles on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) jump conditions of relativistic shocks. The adiabatic constant is calculated directly from first principle particle-in-cell simulation data,…
Using large-scale fully-kinetic two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate the effects of shock rippling on electron acceleration at low-Mach-number shocks propagating in high-$\beta$ plasmas, in application to merger…
Supernova blast wave shock is a very important site of cosmic-ray acceleration. However, the detailed physical process of acceleration, in particular, non-linear interplay between cosmic-ray streaming and magnetic field amplification has…
Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is a ubiquitous dynamical state of astrophysical plasmas and a primary agent in the redistribution, dissipation, and conversion of energy into particle populations. Yet turbulence is still most often…
We derive analytically the vorticity generated downstream of a two-dimensional rippled hydromagnetic shock neglecting fluid viscosity and resistivity. The growth of the turbulent component of the downstream magnetic field is driven by the…
Waves launched from the neutron star surface or inner magnetosphere propagate through the magnetosphere as small perturbations, but can grow relative to the background magnetic field and steepen into ``monster shocks'' -- ultra-relativistic…
We examine the propagation of electromagnetic radiation through a strong magnetic field using the method of characteristics. Owing to nonlinear effects associated with vacuum polarization, such waves can develop discontinuities analogous to…
We present a molecular dynamics simulation of shock waves propagating in dense deuterium with the electron force field method [J. T. Su and W. A. Goddard, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 185003 (2007)], which explicitly takes the excitation of…
We explore the physics of shock evolution and particle acceleration in non-relativistic collisionless shocks using multidimensional hybrid simulations. We analyze a wide range of physical parameters relevant to the acceleration of cosmic…
What are the mechanisms of particle acceleration and radiation, as well as magnetic field build up and decay in relativistic shocks are open questions with important implications to various phenomena in high energy astrophysics. While the…
Using numerical methods, we systematically study in the framework of ideal MHD the effect of magnetic fields on heat transfer within a turbulent gas. We measure the rates of passive scalar diffusion within magnetized fluids and make the…
It is shown that collisionless shock waves can be driven in unmagnetized electron-positron plasmas by performing a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. At the shock transition region, strong magnetic fields are generated by a…
Hall-MHD is a mixed hyperbolic-parabolic partial differential equation that describes the dynamics of an ideal two fluid plasma with massless electrons. We study the only shock wave family that exists in this system (the other…
We present results from three-dimensional particle simulations of collisionless shocks with relativistic counter-streaming ion-electron plasmas. Particles are followed over many skin depths downstream of the shock. Open boundaries allow the…
According to magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the encounter of two collisional magnetized plasmas at high velocity gives rise to shock waves. Investigations conducted so far have found that the same conclusion still holds in the case of…
Hall instability in electron magnetohydrodynamics is interpreted as the shear-Hall instability driven jointly by helicoidal oscillations and shear in the electron current velocity. This explanation suggests an antiparallel orientation of…
Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous structures throughout the universe. Shock waves in space and astrophysical plasmas convert the energy of a fast-flowing plasma to other forms of energy, including thermal and magnetic energies. Plasma…
Shock wave refraction at a sharp density interface is a classical problem in hydrodynamics. Presently, we investigate the strongly planar refraction of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shock wave at an inclined density interface. A magnetic…