Related papers: Energy partition in collisionless counterstreaming…
Decay in time of undriven weakly collisional kinetic plasma turbulence in systems large compared to the ion kinetic scales is investigated using fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations initiated with transverse flow and magnetic…
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…
The dissipative mechanism in weakly collisional plasma is a topic that pervades decades of studies without a consensus solution. We compare several energy dissipation estimates based on energy transfer processes in plasma turbulence and…
The dynamics of weakly magnetized collisionless plasmas in the presence of an imposed temperature gradient along an ambient magnetic field is explored with particle-in-cell simulations and modeling. Two thermal reservoirs at different…
We perform 2D and 3D kinetic simulations of reconnection-mediated turbulent flares in a magnetized electron-positron plasma, with weak and strong radiative cooling. Such flares can be generated around neutron stars and accreting black…
The onset and evolution of magnetic fields in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas is determined by several mechanisms, including instabilities, dynamo effects and ultra-high energy particle flows through gas, plasma and interstellar-media.…
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…
Fast particles diffusing along magnetic field lines in a turbulent plasma can diffuse through and then return to the same eddy many times before the eddy is randomized in the turbulent flow. This leads to an enhancement of particle…
How momentum, energy, and magnetic fields are transported in the presence of macroscopic gradients is a fundamental question in plasma physics. Answering this question is especially challenging for weakly collisional, magnetized plasmas,…
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,…
Collisionless plasma shock theory, which applies for example to the afterglow of gamma ray bursts, still contains key issues that are poorly understood. In this paper we study charged particle dynamics in a highly relativistic collisionless…
The localized deposition of the energy of a laser pulse, as it ablates a solid target, introduces high thermal pressure gradients in the plasma. The thermal expansion of this laser-heated plasma into the ambient medium (ionized residual…
Turbulence is a predominant process for energizing electrons and ions in collisionless astrophysical plasmas, and thus is responsible for shaping their radiative signatures (luminosity, spectra, and variability). To better understand the…
We report the results of 1D particle-in-cell simulations of ultrarelativistic shock waves in proton-electron-positron plasmas. We consider magnetized shock waves, in which the upstream medium carries a large scale magnetic field, directed…
We investigate thermal instability in an electron-ion magnetized plasma relevant to galaxy clusters, solar corona, and other two-component astrophysical objects. We apply the multicomponent plasma approach when the dynamics of all the…
Energy partition between ions and electrons in collisionless shocks has long been an unsolved fundamental physical problem. We show that kinetic simulations of moderate Alfv\'enic Mach number, magnetized, collisionless shocks reveal rapid,…
The manuscript deals with electron acceleration by a laser pulse in a plasma with a static uniform magnetic field $B_*$. The laser pulse propagates perpendicular to the magnetic field lines with the polarization chosen such that…
The thermal collapse of a nearly collisionless plasma interacting with a cooling spot, in which the electron parallel heat flux plays an essential role, is investigated both theoretically and numerically. We show that such thermal collapse,…
A supersonic flow of magnetized plasma is produced by the application of a 1 MA-peak, 500 ns current pulse to a cylindrical arrangement of parallel wires, known as an inverse wire array. The plasma flow is produced by the JxB acceleration…
Gamma ray bursts are among the most energetic events in the known universe. A highly relativistic fireball is ejected. In most cases the burst itself is followed by an afterglow, emitted under deceleration as the fireball plunges through…