Related papers: Cavitation instability in unmagnetized relativisti…
Relativistic shocks are usually thought to occur in violent astrophysical explosions. These collisionless shocks are mediated by a plasma kinetic streaming instability, often loosely referred to as the Weibel instability, which generates…
We develop a comprehensive theoretical model of relativistic collisionless pair shocks mediated by the current filamentation instability. We notably characterize the noninertial frame in which this instability is of a mostly magnetic…
Collisionless shocks can be produced as a result of strong magnetic fields in a plasma flow, and therefore are common in many astrophysical systems. The Weibel instability is one candidate mechanism for the generation of sufficiently strong…
The quantum effect on the Weibel instability in an unmagnetized plasma is presented. Our analysis shows that the quantum effect tends to stabilize the Weibel instability in the hydrodynamic regime, whereas it produces a new oscillatory…
We review recent progress on collisionless relativistic shocks. Kinetic instability theory is briefed including its predictions and limitations. The main focus is on numerical experiments in (i) pair and (ii) electron-nucleon plasmas. The…
Charged plasma particles form an anisotropic counter-streaming distribution at the front of a shock. In the near- and ultra-relativistic regimes, Weibel (or two-stream) instability produces near-equipartition, chaotic, small-scale magnetic…
The electron beam Weibel instability in the electrostatic collisionless shock is studied via particle in cell simulation. When the non-relativistic incoming plasmas collide with cold dilute plasmas, an electrostatic shock forms near the…
Plasma streaming instabilities play an important role in magnetic field amplification and particle acceleration in relativistic shocks and their environments. However, in the far shock precursor region where accelerated particles constitute…
Energetic electromagnetic emissions by astrophysical jets like those that are launched during the collapse of a massive star and trigger gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are partially attributed to relativistic internal shocks. The shocks are…
The role of the Weibel instability is investigated for the first time in the context of the large-scale magnetic reconnection problem. A late-time evolution of magnetic reconnection in relativistic pair plasmas is demonstrated by…
Shocks in relativistically hot plasmas are thought to exist in various high-energy astrophysical phenomena, but it is not clear how relativistic collisionless shocks are formed, whether particles are accelerated by the shock as in the case…
Generation and amplification of magnetic fields in plasmas is a long-standing topic that is of great interest to both plasma and space physics. The electron Weibel instability is a well-known mechanism responsible for self-generating…
Astrophysical and high-energy-density laboratory plasmas often have large-amplitude, sub-Larmor-scale electromagnetic fluctuations excited by various kinetic-streaming or anisotropy-driven instabilities. The Weibel (or the filamentation)…
Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in astrophysics and in the lab. Recent numerical simulations and experiments have shown how they can arise from the encounter of two collisionless plasma shells. When the shells interpenetrate, the…
It is shown that delocalized vortex solitons in relativistic pair plasmas with small temperature asymmetries can be unstable for intermediate intensities of the background electromagnetic field. Instability leads to the generation of…
The formation of non-relativistic collisionless shocks in laboratory with ultrahigh intensity lasers is studied via \emph{ab initio} multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The microphysics behind shock formation and dissipation,…
Energetic astrophysical phenomena, such as $\gamma$-ray bursts and supernova explosion-driven shocks in collisionless plasmas, involve various plasma kinetic instabilities, such as the Weibel instability. In this paper, we explore the…
Plasma instabilities (e.g., Buneman, Weibel and other two-stream instabilities) excited in collisionless shocks are responsible for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration. Using a new 3-D relativistic particle-in-cell code, we…
Relativistic radiation mediated shocks (RRMS) likely form in prodigious cosmic explosions. The structure and emission of such shocks is regulated by copious production of electron-positron pairs inside the shock transition layer. It has…
Collisionless shocks in plasmas play an important role in space physics (Earth's bow shock) and astrophysics (supernova remnants, relativistic jets, gamma-ray bursts, high energy cosmic rays). While the formation of a fluid shock through…