Related papers: Biermann-battery driven magnetized collisionless s…
lasma instabilities excited in collisionless shocks are responsible for particle acceleration. We have investigated the particle acceleration and shock structure associated with an unmagnetized relativistic electron-positron jet propagating…
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…
A one-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation tracks a fast magnetosonic shock over time scales comparable to an inverse ion gyrofrequency. The magnetic pressure is comparable to the thermal pressure upstream. The shock propagates…
We present a particle-in-cell simulation of the generation of a collisionless turbulent shock in a dense plasma driven by an ultra-high-intensity laser pulse. From the linear analysis, we highlight the crucial role of the laser-heated and…
We demonstrate that the Biermann battery mechanism for the creation of large scale magnetic fields can arise in a simple model protogalaxy. Analytic calculations and numerical simulations follow explicitly the generation of vorticity (and…
Sustained collisionless interpenetrating plasma flows have been generated on the OMEGA laser facility to enable direct investigation of nonlinear evolution of fields generated by electromagnetic kinetic instabilities. FLASH simulations and…
Collisionless shocks, that is shocks mediated by electromagnetic processes, are customary in space physics and in astrophysics. They are to be found in a great variety of objects and environments: magnetospheric and heliospheric shocks,…
Although the origin of cosmic rays (CRs) remains an open question, collisionless magnetized shock waves are widely regarded as key sites for particle acceleration. Recent theories further suggest that shock-shock collisions in stellar…
We study relativistic unmagnetized collisionless shocks using unprecedentedly large particle-in-cell simulations of two-dimensional pair plasma. High energy particles accelerated by the shock are found to drive magnetic field evolution on a…
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…
We present new generation mechanisms of magnetic fields in supernova remnant shocks propagating to partially ionized plasmas in the early universe. Upstream plasmas are dissipated at the collisionless shock, but hydrogen atoms are not…
The mechanisms that generate "seed" magnetic fields in our Universe and that amplify them throughout cosmic time remain poorly understood. By means of fully-kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of turbulent, initially unmagnetized plasmas,…
It is argued and demonstrated by particle-in-cell simulations that the synchrotron maser instability could develop at the front of a relativistic, magnetized shock. The instability generates strong low-frequency electromagnetic waves…
The ability of an intense laser pulse to propagate in a classically over-critical plasma through the phenomenon of relativistic transparency is shown to facilitate the generation of strong plasma magnetic fields. Particle-in-cell…
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…
It has recently been demonstrated experimentally that a turbulent plasma created by the collision of two inhomogeneous, asymmetric, weakly magnetised laser-produced plasma jets can generate strong stochastic magnetic fields via the…
We investigate an efficient mechanism for generating magnetic fields in turbulent, collisionless plasmas. By using fully kinetic, particle-in-cell simulations of an initially non-magnetized plasma, we inspect the genesis of magnetization,…
Collisionless shocks are pervasive in astrophysics and they are critical to understand cosmic ray acceleration. Laboratory experiments with intense lasers are now opening the way to explore and characterise the underlying microphysics,…
Relativistic collisionless shocks in electron-ion plasma are thought to occur in the afterglow phase of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), and in other environments where relativistic flows interact with the interstellar medium. A particular regime…
We present a new magnetic field generation mechanism in underdense plasmas driven by the beating of two, co-propagating, Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) orbital angular momentum (OAM) laser pulses with different frequencies and also different twist…