Related papers: Compton driven beam formation and magnetisation vi…
We report on a measurement of collective behavior in a relativistic electron-positron pair plasma produced in the laboratory. Using the Fireball platform at CERN's HiRadMat facility, 440 GeV protons were used to generate an…
When gamma-rays emerge from a central source they may undergo Compton scattering in surrounding matter. The resulting Compton-scattered electrons radiate. Coherent radiation by such Compton electrons follows nuclear explosions above the…
Recent work has shown that synchrotron emission from relativistic plasmas leads the electron distribution to form an anisotropic ring in momentum space, which can be unstable to both kinetic and hydrodynamic instabilities. Fundamental to…
Plasma instabilities can be encountered in many branches of physics. This work focuses on relativistic plasmas with applications in theoretical astrophysics and particle accelerator physics. Even though these fields seem to be unrelated the…
Plasma streaming instabilities play an important role in magnetic field amplification and particle acceleration in relativistic shocks and their environments. However, in the far shock precursor region where accelerated particles constitute…
The expansion of a charge-neutral cloud of electrons and positrons with the temperature 1 MeV into an unmagnetized ambient plasma is examined with a 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The pair outflow drives solitary waves in the ambient…
The plasma dynamics resulting from the simultaneous impact, of two equal, ultra-intense laser pulses, in two spatially separated spots, onto a dense target is studied via particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The simulations show that…
Synchrotron radiation and Compton scattering are widely accepted as the most likely emission mechanisms of some astrophysical phenomena, such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The measurement on polarization of…
Plasmas are beset with instabilities of all types, hydrodynamic, magneto-hydrodynamic, and electromagnetic. These instabilities are complex, occur over a large range of temporal and spatial scales, are most often unmanageable, and have…
The behaviour of a relativistic electron-positron plasma in the pulsar magnetosphere is investigated. The equation of the motion of the magnetospheric plasma is discussed, from which it follows that, if the plasma particle radial velocity…
The onset and evolution of magnetic fields in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas is determined by several mechanisms, including instabilities, dynamo effects and ultra-high energy particle flows through gas, plasma and interstellar-media.…
In the cavitation regime of plasma-based accelerators, a population of high-energy electrons tailing the driver can undergo betatron motion. The motion results in X-ray emission, but the brilliance and photon energy are limited by the…
Relativistic plasmas in strong electromagnetic fields exhibit distinct properties compared to classical plasmas. In astrophysical environments, such as neutron stars, white dwarfs, AGNs, and shocks, relativistic plasmas are pervasive and…
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…
The dissipation of turbulent magnetic fields is an appealing scenario to explain the origin of non-thermal particles in high-energy astrophysical sources. However, it has been suggested that the particle distribution may effectively…
Creation of electrons and positrons from light alone is a basic prediction of quantum electrodynamics, but yet to be observed. Here we show that it is possible to create ${>}10^8$ positrons by dual laser irradiation of a structured plasma…
The maximum magnetic field strength generated by Weibel-type plasma instabilities is estimated for typical conditions in the interstellar medium. The relevant kinetic dispersion relations are evaluated by conducting a parameter study both…
A new nonlinear electromagnetic wave mode in a magnetized plasma is predicted. Its existence depends on the interaction of an intense circularly polarized electromagnetic wave with a plasma, where quantum electrodynamical photon--photon…
The recent claim by Coburn & Boggs to have detected a very high degree of linear polarization in the prompt emission of GRB 021206 has stimulated interest in how much polarization could arise in gamma-ray bursts from synchrotron emission.…
We investigate the nonlinear Compton photon source for upcoming laser-particle experiments in the collision scenario of high-energy electron beams and relativistic laser pulses. The stronger laser field could not only improve the scattering…