Related papers: Particle Acceleration in Colliding Flows: Binary S…
The relativistic wind of obliquely-rotating pulsars consists of toroidal stripes of opposite magnetic field polarity, separated by current sheets of hot plasma. By means of two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we…
Plasma processes close to SNR shocks result in the amplification of magnetic fields and in the acceleration of electrons, injecting them into the diffusive acceleration mechanism. The acceleration of electrons and the B field amplification…
We suggest a physical mechanism whereby the acceleration time of cosmic rays by shock waves can be significantly reduced. This creates the possibility of particle acceleration beyond the knee energy at ~10^15eV. The acceleration results…
A pair of curved shocks in a collisionless plasma is examined with a two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The shocks are created by the collision of two electron-ion clouds at a speed that exceeds everywhere the threshold…
Diffusive shock acceleration at collisionless shocks remains the most likely process for accelerating particles in a variety of astrophysical sources. While the standard prediction for strong shocks is that the spectrum of accelerated…
We present simulations of magnetized astrophysical shocks taking into account the interplay between the thermal plasma of the shock and supra-thermal particles. Such interaction is depicted by combining a grid-based magneto-hydrodynamics…
We review the physics of relativistic shocks, which are often invoked as the sources of non-thermal particles in pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets, and as possible sources of…
Perpendicular relativistic ($\gamma_0=10$) shocks in magnetized pair plasmas are investigated using two dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. A systematic survey, from unmagnetized to strongly magnetized shocks, is presented accurately…
Energetic particles are ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas, and interplanetary shocks are widely regarded as one of the main particle accelerators in the heliosphere. Indeed, in-situ measurements typically show that energetic…
We use 2D and 3D hybrid (kinetic ions - fluid electrons) simulations to investigate particle acceleration and magnetic field amplification at non-relativistic astrophysical shocks. We show that diffusive shock acceleration operates for…
We determine the spectrum of particles accelerated at shocks with arbitrary speed and arbitrary scattering properties for different choices of the equation of state of the downstream plasma. More specifically we consider the effect of…
We study the physics of electron acceleration at collisionless shocks that move through a plasma containing large-scale magnetic fluctuations. We numerically integrate the trajectories of a large number of electrons, which are treated as…
Shear flows, ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas, can accelerate particles through turbulence excited by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. We present the first numerical study of particle acceleration in non-relativistic,…
Counterpropagating Alfv\'en waves are ubiquitously observed in many astrophysical environments, such as a star surface and a planetary foreshock. We discuss an efficient particle acceleration mechanism in two counterpropagating circularly…
Particle acceleration at plasma shocks appears to be ubiquitous in the universe, spanning systems in the heliosphere, supernova remnants, and relativistic jets in distant active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts. This review addresses some of…
We present evidence that relativistic shocks propagating in unmagnetized plasmas can self-consistently accelerate particles. We use long-term two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to study the well-developed shock structure in…
Using an eigenfunction expansion to solve the transport equation, complemented by Monte-Carlo simulations, we show that ultrarelativistic shocks can be effective particle accelerators even when they fail to produce large amplitude…
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…
Charged particles can be accelerated via surfatron mechanism along dc magnetic field by obliquely propagating electrostatic waves. In plasma, this mechanism can, in principle, produce an average parallel current, even when the wave…
We perform a numerical-simulation study of the acceleration of electrons at shocks that propagate through a prespecified, kinematically defined turbulent magnetic field. The turbulence consists of broadband magnetic fluctuations that are…