Related papers: The Persistent Mystery of Collisionless Shocks
Colliding collisionless shocks appear in a great variety of astrophysical phenomena and are thought to be possible sources of particle acceleration in the Universe. To investigate the detailed dynamics of this phenomenon, we have performed…
Hot-cold ablative mixing plasmas are ubiquitous in astrophysical and laboratory systems, where a cold/dense plasma is roughly in pressure balance with a hot/dilute plasma. Examples include the plasma thermal quench during major disruptions…
When two plasmas collide, their interaction can be mediated by collisionless plasma instabilities or binary collisions between particles of each shell. By comparing the maximum growth rate of the collisionless instabilities with the…
Alongside magnetic reconnection, turbulence is another fundamental nonlinear plasma phenomenon that plays a key role in energy transport and conversion in space and astrophysical plasmas. From a numerical, theoretical, and observational…
A collisionless shock may be strongly modified by the presence of neutral atoms through the processes of charge exchange between ions and neutrals and ionization of the latter. These two processes lead to exchange of energy and momentum…
Here we present a commentary on the role of small-scale (e.g., few tens of meters) wave-particle interactions in large-scale (e.g., few tens of kilometers) processes and their capacity to accelerate particles from thermal to suprathermal or…
We explore analytically the structure of relativistic shock and solitary wave solutions in collisionless plasmas. In the wave frame of reference, a cold plasma is flowing from one end and impacting on a low velocity plasma. First we show…
We have become heavily reliant on electrical technologies, from power grids to GPS to wireless communication. Any disruption of these systems will have severe global consequences. A major natural hazard for such electrical disruption is…
A collisionless shock wave is treated as a streaming plasma instability in the interstellar medium (ISM). We assume that in a steady state, this instability propagates through the ISM as a self-driven plasma instability, whereby the…
Relativistic collisionless shocks are associated with efficient particle acceleration when propagating into weakly magnetized homogeneous media; as the magnetization increases, particle acceleration becomes suppressed. We demonstrate that…
A concise review is given on the past two decades' results from laboratory experiments on collisionless magnetic reconnection in direct relation with space measurements, especially by Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. Highlights…
The acceleration of charged particles at astrophysical collisionless shock waves is one of the best studied processes for the energization of particles to ultrarelativistic energies, required by multifrequency observations in a variety of…
Super-Alfv\'enic jets, with kinetic energy densities significantly exceeding that of the solar wind, are commonly generated downstream of Earth's bow shock under both high and low beta plasma conditions. In this study, we present…
Collisionless relativistic shocks have been the focus of intense theoretical and numerical investigations in recent years. The acceleration of particles, the generation of electromagnetic microturbulence and the building up of a shock front…
Shocks waves are a ubiquitous feature of many astrophysical plasma systems, and an important process for energy dissipation and transfer. The physics of these shock waves are frequently treated/modeled as a collisional, fluid MHD…
The interstellar medium (ISM) is constantly evolving due to unremitting injection of energy in various forms. Energetic radiation transfers energy to the ISM: from the UV photons, emitted by the massive stars, to X- and $\gamma$-ray ones.…
An ablative plasma shock can emanate from the interface between a cold/dense plasma and a hot/dilute ambient plasma, where the plasma mean-free-path is much longer than the temperature gradient length. The shock is driven by thermal flux…
Collisionless shocks are common features in space and astrophysical systems where supersonic plasma flows interact, such as in the solar wind, the heliopause, and supernova remnants. Recent experimental capabilities and diagnostics allow…
We report on experimental observations of the bending of a dust acoustic shock wave around a dust void region. This phenomenon occurs as a planar shock wavefront encounters a compressible obstacle in the form of a void whose size is larger…
Shock waves constitute discontinuities in matter which are relevant in studying the plasma behaviour in astrophysical scenarios and in heavy-ion collision. They can produce conical emission in relativistic collisions and are also thought to…