Related papers: Ion and Electron Acceleration in Fully Kinetic Pla…
Electron and ion energization (i.e., heating and nonthermal acceleration) is a fundamental, but poorly understood, outcome of plasma turbulence. In this work, we present new results on this topic from particle-in-cell simulations of driven…
Due to its ubiquitous presence, turbulence is often invoked to explain the origin of nonthermal particles in astrophysical sources of high-energy emission. With particle-in-cell simulations, we study decaying turbulence in…
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…
Does overall thermal equilibrium exist between ions and electrons in a weakly collisional, magnetised, turbulent plasma---and, if not, how is thermal energy partitioned between ions and electrons? This is a fundamental question in plasma…
Electromagnetic turbulence and ion kinetics in counter-streaming plasmas hold great significance in laboratory astrophysics, such as turbulence field amplification and particle energization. Here, we quantitatively demonstrate for the first…
Electron plasmas confined by an external magnetic field exhibit variations in a two-dimensional plane orthogonal to the confining magnetic field. A nonlinear fluid simulation code to investigate the properties of 2-D electron plasma wave…
Magnetized turbulence and magnetic reconnection are often invoked to explain the nonthermal emission observed from a wide variety of astrophysical sources. By means of fully-kinetic 2D and 3D PIC simulations, we investigate the interplay…
Turbulence is a predominant process for energizing electrons and ions in collisionless astrophysical plasmas, and thus is responsible for shaping their radiative signatures (luminosity, spectra, and variability). To better understand the…
Relativistic magnetic turbulence has been proposed as a process for producing nonthermal particles in high-energy astrophysics. Particle energization may be contributed by both magnetic reconnection and turbulent fluctuations, but their…
A common occurrence in weakly collisional space plasmas is the unequal electron-ion temperatures. The pressure-strain interaction provides a mechanism-agnostic pathway for increasing plasma internal energy through spatiotemporally local…
Fast, counter-streaming plasma outflows drive magnetic field amplification, plasma heating, and particle acceleration in numerous astrophysical environments, from supernova remnant shocks to active galactic nuclei jets. Understanding how,…
The possibility of studying non-thermal electron energization in laser-driven plasma experiments of magnetic reconnection is studied using two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It is demonstrated that non-thermal…
Turbulent high-energy astrophysical systems often feature asymmetric energy injection: for instance, Alfven waves propagating from an accretion disk into its corona. Such systems are "imbalanced": the energy fluxes parallel and…
Particle transport, acceleration and energisation are phenomena of major importance for both space and laboratory plasmas. Despite years of study, an accurate theoretical description of these effects is still lacking. Validating models with…
Low frequency electromagnetic turbulence is generated in relativistically outflowing plasma that sweeps up particles from the surrounding environment. Electrons are energized by stochastic gyroresonant acceleration with the turbulence…
Observational evidence in space and astrophysical plasmas with long collisional mean free path suggests that more massive charged particles may be preferentially heated. One possible mechanism for this is the turbulent cascade of energy…
Nature's most powerful high-energy sources are capable of accelerating particles to high energy and radiate it away on extremely short timescales, even shorter than the light crossing time of the system. It is yet unclear what physical…
While collisionless plasmas are ubiquitously present near astrophysical compact objects, the impact that their composition has on the high-energy emission is presently unknown. We present the first investigation of particle-acceleration…
We simulate decaying turbulence in a homogeneous pair plasma using three dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) method. A uniform background magnetic field permeates the plasma such that the magnetic pressure is three times…
By means of fully kinetic simulations, we investigate electron acceleration during magnetic reconnection in a nonrelativistic proton--electron plasma with conditions similar to solar corona and flares. We demonstrate that reconnection leads…