Related papers: Return Currents in Collisionless Shocks
One of the main features of astrophysical shocks is their ability to accelerate particles to extremely high energies. The leading acceleration mechanism, the diffusive shock acceleration is reviewed. It is demonstrated that its efficiency…
A shock wave propagating perpendicularly to an ambient magnetic field accelerates particles considerably faster than in the parallel propagation regime. However, the perpendicular acceleration stops after the shock overruns a circular…
The theory and simulations of quasi-perpendicular and strictly perpendicular collisionless shocks are reviewed. The text is structured into the following sections and subsections: 1. Setting the frame, where the quasi-perpendicular shock…
We model relativistically colliding plasma by PIC simulations in one and two spatial dimensions, taking an ion-to-electron mass ratio of 400. Energy dissipation by a wave precursor of mixed polarity and different densities of the colliding…
Multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are used to study the generation of electrostatic shocks in plasma and the reflection of background ions to produce high-quality and high-energy ion beams. Electrostatic shocks are driven by…
We present the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results of the interaction of a high-energy lepton plasma flow with background electron-proton plasma and focus on the acceleration processes of the protons. It is found that the acceleration…
Interplanetary shocks are one of the proposed sources of suprathermal ion populations (i.e., ions with energies of a few times the solar wind energy). Here, we present results from a series of three-dimensional hybrid simulations of…
We investigate shock structure and particle acceleration in relativistic magnetized collisionless electron-ion shocks by means of 2.5D particle-in-cell simulations with ion-to-electron mass ratios (m_i/m_e) ranging from 16 to 1000. We…
Collisionless shocks are common in astrophysical systems and stand as sites of particle acceleration. While particles at perpendicular shocks may not return to the upstream region, at oblique shocks a fraction of energetic electrons manage…
Within a test-particle description of the acceleration process in parallel nonrelativistic shocks, we present an analytic treatment of the electron injection. We estimate the velocity distribution of the injected electrons as the product of…
We investigate the physics of quasi-parallel trans-relativistic shocks propagating in weakly magnetized plasmas by means of long-duration two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The structure of the shock precursor is shaped by a…
Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous structures throughout the universe. Shock waves in space and astrophysical plasmas convert the energy of a fast-flowing plasma to other forms of energy, including thermal and magnetic energies. Plasma…
Measurements of temperature and density near supra-arcade current sheets suggest that plasma on unreconnected field lines may experience some degree of "pre-heating" and "pre-densification" prior to their reconnection. Models of patchy…
Collisionless shocks are efficient particle accelerators. At Earth, ions with energies exceeding 100 keV are seen upstream of the bow shock when the magnetic geometry is quasi-parallel, and large-scale supernova remnant shocks can…
The outflows from gamma ray bursts, active galactic nuclei and relativistic jets in general interact with the surrounding media through collisionless shocks. With three dimensional relativistic particle-in-cell simulations we investigate…
Non-relativistic collisionless shock waves are widespread in space and astrophysical plasmas and are known as efficient particle accelerators. However, our understanding of collisionless shocks, including their structure and the mechanisms…
Understanding the heating of electrons to quasi-thermal energies at collisionless shocks has broad implications for plasma astrophysics. It directly impacts the interpretation of X-ray spectra from shocks, is important for understanding how…
Collisionless electron-ion shocks are fundamental to astrophysical plasmas, yet their behavior in strong magnetic fields remains poorly understood. Using Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations with the SHARP-1D3V code, we investigate the role…
We simulate, using a particle-in-cell code, the chain of acceleration processes at work during the Compton-based interaction of a dilute electron-ion plasma with an extreme-intensity, incoherent gamma-ray flux with a photon density several…
The non-thermal acceleration of electrons and ions at an oblique, non-relativistic shock is studied using large scale particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in one spatial dimension. Physical parameters are selected to highlight the role of…