Related papers: Ion and Electron Acceleration in Fully Kinetic Pla…
Magnetic-field generation by a relativistic ion beam propagating through an electron-ion plasma along a homogeneous magnetic field is investigated with 2.5D high-resolution particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The studies test predictions of…
Highly energetic, relativistic electrons are commonly present in many astrophysical systems, from solar flares to the intra-cluster medium, as indicated by observed electromagnetic radiation. However, open questions remain about the…
An electron irradiated by a linearly polarized relativistic intensity laser pulse in a cylindrical plasma channel can gain significant energy from the pulse. The laser electric and magnetic fields drive electron oscillations in a plane…
Many high-energy astrophysical systems contain magnetized collisionless plasmas with relativistic particles, in which turbulence can be driven by an arbitrary mixture of solenoidal and compressive motions. For example, turbulence in hot…
Relativistic magnetically dominated turbulence is an efficient engine for particle acceleration in a collisionless plasma. Ultrarelativistic particles accelerated by interactions with turbulent fluctuations form non-thermal power-law…
The statistical properties of ions in two-dimensional fully developed turbulence have been compared between two different numerical algorithms. In particular, we compare Hybrid Particle In Cell (hybrid PIC with fluid electrons) and full PIC…
Strong non-relativistic shocks are known to accelerate particles up to relativistic energies. However, for Diffusive Shock Acceleration electrons must have a highly suprathermal energy, implying a need for very efficient pre-acceleration.…
3D kinetic-scale turbulence is studied numerically in the regime where electrons are strongly magnetized (the ratio of plasma species pressure to magnetic pressure is $\beta_e=0.1$ for electrons and $\beta_i=1$ for ions). Such a regime is…
Turbulence in space plasmas usually exhibits two regimes separated by a spectral break that divides the so called inertial and kinetic ranges. Large scale magnetic fluctuations are dominated by non-linear MHD wave-wave interactions…
Density inhomogeneities are ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas, in particular at contact boundaries between different media. They often correspond to regions that exhibits strong dynamics on a wide range of spatial and temporal…
A high energy density plasma embedded in a neutral gas is able to launch an outward-propagating nonlinear electrostatic ionization wave that traps energetic electrons. The trapping maintains a strong sheath electric field, enabling rapid…
Stochastic acceleration of electrons and protons by waves propagating parallel to the large scale magnetic fields of magnetized plasmas is studied with emphasis on the feasibility of accelerating particles from a thermal background to…
This paper extends our earlier work on the acceleration of low-energy electrons by plasma turbulence to include the effects of finite temperature of the plasma. We consider the resonant interaction of thermal electrons with the whole…
Density inhomogeneities are ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas, particularly at magnetic reconnection sites, shock fronts, and within compressible turbulence. The gradients associated with these inhomogeneous plasma regions serve…
The relationship between a decaying strong turbulence and kinetic instabilities in a slowly expanding plasma is investigated using two-dimensional (2-D) hybrid expanding box simulations. We impose an initial ambient magnetic field…
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…
We present results from particle-in-cell simulations of driven turbulence in magnetized, collisionless, and relativistic pair plasma. We find that fluctuations are consistent with the classical $k_\perp^{-5/3}$ magnetic energy spectrum at…
We investigate thermal instability in an electron-ion magnetized plasma relevant to galaxy clusters, solar corona, and other two-component astrophysical objects. We apply the multicomponent plasma approach when the dynamics of all the…
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…
Plasmas generated using energetic electron beams are well known for their low electron temperature ($T_{e}$) and plasma potential, which makes them attractive for atomic-precision plasma processing applications such as atomic layer etch and…