Related papers: Ion Dynamics Across a Low Mach Number Bow Shock
We aim to interpret the radio emission of stellar bow shocks and assess under which conditions it could be either thermal or non-thermal, and how to use the observational data to infer their physical properties. We used an extended…
Recent observations by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) suggest that protons and heavier ions are accelerated to high energies by magnetic reconnection at the heliospheric current sheet (HCS). By solving the energetic particle transport equation in…
Using observations of Earth's bow shock by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, we show for the first time that active magnetic reconnection is occurring at current sheets embedded within the quasi-parallel shock's transition layer. We…
We present the results of large hybrid (kinetic ions - fluid electrons) simulations of particle acceleration at non-relativistic collisionless shocks. Ion acceleration efficiency and magnetic field amplification are investigated in detail…
Shocks in astrophysical transients are key sites of particle acceleration. If the shock upstream is optically thick, radiation smoothens the velocity discontinuity at the shock (radiation-mediated shocks). However, in mildly magnetized…
Earth's bow shock is known to produce non-thermal electrons which are generally observed as a `spike' in their flux profile. Here, in this paper, we present an analysis of electron and whistler wave properties for a quasi-perpendicular…
The solar atmosphere is composed of many species which are populated at different ionization and excitation levels. The upper chromosphere, transition region, and corona are nearly collisionless. Consequently, slippage between, for…
Despite a very long history of meteor science, our understanding of meteor ablation and its shocked plasma physics is still far from satisfactory as we are still missing the microphysics of meteor shock formation and its plasma dynamics.…
We perform particle-in-cell simulations to elucidate the microphysics of relativistic weakly magnetized shocks loaded with electron-positron pairs. Various external magnetizations $\sigma\lesssim 10^{-4}$ and pair-loading factors $Z_\pm…
This study provides a detailed analysis of fourteen distant interplanetary shocks observed by the Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument onboard New Horizons. These shocks were observed with a pickup ion data cadence of approximately 30…
We study how a high-speed solar wind stream embedded in a slow solar wind influences the spread of solar energetic protons in interplanetary space. To model the energetic protons, we used a recently developed particle transport code that…
The early acceleration of protons and electrons in the nonrelativistic collisionless shocks with three obliquities are investigated through 1D particle-in-cell simulations. In the simulations, the charged particles possessing a velocity of…
Perpendicular collisionless shocks propagating into partially ionized plasmas are investigated by two-dimensional hybrid particle simulations. It is shown that some neutral particles leak into the upstream region from the downstream region,…
The plasma of the lower solar atmosphere consists of mostly neutral particles, whereas the upper solar atmosphere is mostly ionised particles and electrons. A shock that propagates upwards in the solar atmosphere therefore undergoes a…
The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and Solar Orbiter (SolO) missions opened a new observational window in the inner heliosphere, which is finally accessible to direct measurements. On September 05, 2022, a coronal mass ejection (CME)-driven…
Massive stars that travel at supersonic speeds can create bow shocks as their stellar winds interact with the surrounding interstellar medium. These bow shocks - prominent sites for mechanical feedback of individual massive stars - are…
Prompted by high resolution observations, I propose an explanation for the 40+ year old problem of structure and energy balance in the solar transition region. The ingredients are simply cross-field diffusion of neutral atoms from cool…
Electron acceleration to non-thermal energies is known to occur in low Mach number (M<5) shocks in galaxy clusters and solar flares, but the electron acceleration mechanism remains poorly understood. Using two-dimensional (2D)…
We present laboratory results on energy partitioning from supercritical, magnetized collisionless shock experiments ($\rm{M_A} \sim 8$, $\rm{M_{ms}}\sim 4$). We report the first observation of fully-developed laboratory shocks that evolve…
A study of collisionless external shocks in gamma-ray bursts is presented. The shock structure, electromagnetic fields, and process of electron acceleration are assessed by performing a self-consistent 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation.…