Related papers: Nonlinear particle reacceleration by multiple shoc…
The recent discoveries in the theory of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) that stem from first-principle kinetic plasma simulations are discussed. When ion acceleration is efficient, the back-reaction of non-thermal particles and…
The analytical theory of diffusive cosmic ray acceleration at parallel stationary shock waves with magnetostatic turbulence is generalized to arbitrary shock speeds $V_s=\beta_1c$, including in particular relativistic speeds. This is…
Particle acceleration at non-relativistic shocks can be very efficient, leading to the appearance of non-linear effects due to the dynamical reaction of the accelerated particles on the shock structure and to the non-linear amplification of…
Large-scale structure formation, accretion and merging processes, AGN activity produce cosmological gas shocks. The shocks convert a fraction of the energy of gravitationally accelerated flows to internal energy of the gas. Being the main…
We develop a self-consistent nonlinear extension of diffusive shock acceleration that incorporates cosmic ray (CR) backreaction on the shock precursor together with a physically motivated upstream-escape mechanism that produces an…
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…
Using test particle simulations we study particle acceleration at highly perpendicular ($\theta_{Bn}\geq 75^\circ$) shocks under conditions of modeling magnetic turbulence. We adopt a backward-in-time method to solve the Newton-Lorentz…
We discuss the recent developments in the theory of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) by using both first-principle kinetic plasma simulations and analytical theory based on the solution of the convection/diffusion equation. In particular,…
Particle acceleration in collisionless astrophysical shocks, i.e., diffusive shock acceleration (DSA), is the most likely mechanism for producing cosmic rays, at least below 10^{15} eV. Despite the success of this theory, several key…
We experimentally probe nonlinear wave propagation in weakly compressed granular media, and observe a crossover from quasi-linear sound waves at low impact, to shock waves at high impact. We show that this crossover grows with the confining…
We investigate effects of upstream density fluctuations on the diffusive shock acceleration by Monte Carlo simulations. The simulations show that particles are reaccelerated in the shock downstream region by a sound wave generated at the…
We study particle acceleration in strongly turbulent pair plasmas using novel 3D Particle-in-Cell simulations, featuring particle injection from an external heat bath and diffusive escape. We demonstrate the formation of steady-state,…
There is an observational correlation between astrophysical shocks and non-thermal particle distributions extending to high energies. As a first step toward investigating the possible feedback of these particles on the shock at the…
In the present paper we discuss the modifications introduced into the first-order Fermi shock acceleration process due to a finite extent of diffusive regions near the shock or due to boundary conditions leading to an increased particle…
The presence of neutral hydrogen in the shock proximity changes the structure of the shock and affects the spectra of particles accelerated through the first-order Fermi mechanism. This phenomenon has profound implications for the…
When a supernova remnant (SNR) interacts with the dense material of an interstellar cloud, its shock wave decelerates rapidly, and the post-shock temperature drops to levels that permit efficient cooling of the shocked plasma. At this…
In this review we discuss some observational aspects and theoretical models of astrophysical collisionless shocks in partly ionized plasma with the presence of non-thermal components. A specific feature of fast strong collisionless shocks…
We have developed a Monte Carlo technique for self-consistently calculating the hydrodynamic structure of oblique, steady-state shocks, together with the first-order Fermi acceleration process and associated non-thermal particle…
Relativistic sources, e.g. gamma-ray bursts, pulsar wind nebulae and powerful active galactic nuclei produce relativistic outflows that lead to the formation of collisionless shock waves, where particle acceleration is thought to take…
Collisionless plasma shocks are efficient sources of non-thermal particle acceleration in space and astrophysical systems. We use hybrid (kinetic ions -- fluid electrons) simulations to examine the non-linear feedback of the self-generated…