Related papers: Foo Fighters and Microwave Oven Plasma Balls
Bursts and flares are among the distinctive observational manifestations of magnetars, isolated neutron stars endowed with an ultra-strong magnetic field ($B \approx 10^{14}$--$10^{15}$ G). It is believed that these events arise in a hot…
We derive stringent constraints on the persistent source associated with FRB 121102: Size $10^{17}$ cm $<R<10^{18}$ cm, age $<300$ yr, characteristic electron energy $\varepsilon_e\sim0.3$ GeV, total energy $\sim10^{49}$ erg. The hot…
Temperature and polarization variations across the microwave sky include the fingerprints of quantum fluctuations in the early universe. They may soon reveal physics at unprecedented energy scales.
Fast radio bursts are mysterious transient sources likely located at cosmological distances. The derived brightness temperatures exceed by many orders of magnitude the self-absorption limit of incoherent synchrotron radiation, implying the…
The collision of two expanding plasma clouds is investigated, emphasizing instabilities and electron energization in the plasma mixing layer. This work is directly relevant to laboratory experiments with explosively-created laser or z-pinch…
Neutrinos of energy about 5-20 MeV are produced due to the stellar collapse or merger events that trigger the Gamma-Ray Burst. Also low energy MeV neutrinos are produced within the fireball due to electron positron annihilation and…
A model is proposed to explain hysteresis observed in fireball formation and extinction as electrode bias is varied in partially ionized plasmas. Formation is predicted after a sufficiently deep potential well is established in the electron…
There are by now ten published detections of fast radio bursts (FRBs), single bright GHz-band millisecond pulses of unknown origin. Proposed explanations cover a broad range from exotic processes at cosmological distances to atmospheric and…
Growing evidence indicates that some fast radio bursts (FRBs) reside in dense, magneto-ionic environments where extrinsic propagation effects can substantially reshape the observed signal. Within a 1D Gaussian plasma-lens framework, we show…
The propagation of microwaves across a turbulent plasma density layer is investigated with full-wave simulations. To properly represent a fusion edge-plasma, drift-wave turbulence is considered based on the Hasegawa-Wakatani model.…
On the Sun,jets in light bridges are frequently observed with high-resolution instruments.The respective roles played by convection and the magnetic field in triggering such jets are not yet clear.We report a small fan-shaped jet along a LB…
Hinode observations have revealed intermittent recurrent plasma ejections/jets in the chromosphere. These are interpreted as a result of non-perfectly anti-parallel magnetic reconnection, i.e. component reconnection, between a twisted…
After centuries, the long-standing problem of the nature of ball lightning may be closer to a solution. The relativistic-microwave theory of ball lightning recently proposed by Wu accounts for many of the leading characteristics of ball…
Through the process of inward diffusion, a strongly localized clump of plasma is created in a magnetosphere. The creation of the density gradient, instead of the usual flattening by a diffusion process, can be explained by the topological…
We study the polarization properties of the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts produced by fragmented fireballs. Such fireballs, known in the literature under various names, are made by the superposition of many individual blobs, each of…
In this article, we concentrate on the basic physics of relativistic plasma wave accelerators. The generation of relativistic plasma waves by intense lasers or electron beams in low-density plasmas is important in the quest for producing…
The high energy emission of microquasars is thought to originate from high energy particles. Depending on the spectral state, the distribution of these particles can be thermal with a high temperature (typically 100 keV) or non-thermal and…
Recent pulsed-power experiments have demonstrated the formation of astrophysically-relevant, differentially rotating plasmas [1]. Key features of the plasma flows are the discovery of a quasi-Keplerian rotation curve, the launching of…
In this paper we model the emission from a relativistically expanding electron-positron pair plasma fireball originating near the surface of a heated neutron star. This pair fireball is deposited via the annihilation of neutrino pairs…
We present a comprehensive overview of the formation mechanism of plasma fireball sheath (PFS) structures, sheath-induced collective phenomena, associated relevant instabilities, and corresponding onset conditions. It includes an optimum…