Related papers: Numerical investigation of particle acceleration a…
Interplanetary shocks are large-scale heliospheric structures often caused by eruptive phenomena at the Sun, and represent one of the main sources of energetic particles. Several interplanetary shock crossings by spacecraft at $1$ AU have…
The formation of collisionless shock fronts is an ubiquitous phenomenon in space plasma environments. In the solar wind shocks might accompany coronal mass ejections, while even more violent events, such as supernovae, produce shock fronts…
We investigate the process of particle acceleration at the termination shock that develops in the bubble excavated by winds of star clusters in the interstellar medium. We develop a theory of diffusive shock acceleration at such shock and…
Particle acceleration at plasma shocks appears to be ubiquitous in the universe, spanning systems in the heliosphere, supernova remnants, and relativistic jets in distant active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts. This review addresses some of…
Context. Interplanetary (IP) shock waves offer an unparalleled opportunity to directly study the elusive mechanisms of particle acceleration that are pervasive in our Universe. Novel spacecraft missions, orbiting poorly-explored regions of…
The acceleration of charged particles by interplanetary shocks can drain a non-negligible fraction of the upstream ram pressure. For a sample of shocks observed in-situ at 1 AU by the ACE and Wind spacecraft, time-series of the…
We herein investigate shock formation and particle acceleration processes for both protons and electrons in a quasi-parallel high-Mach-number collisionless shock through a long-term, large-scale particle-in-cell simulation. We show that…
We present simulations of magnetized astrophysical shocks taking into account the interplay between the thermal plasma of the shock and supra-thermal particles. Such interaction is depicted by combining a grid-based magneto-hydrodynamics…
The process of diffusive acceleration of charged particles in shocked plasmas is widely invoked in astrophysics to account for the ubiquitous presence of signatures of non-thermal relativistic electrons and ions in the universe. A key…
The transport of energetic particles is intimately related to the properties of plasma turbulence, a ubiquitous dynamic process that transfers energy across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. However, the mechanisms governing the…
In the theory of diffusive acceleration at oblique shock fronts the question of the existence of a discontinuity of energetic particle density is contentious. The resolution of this problem is interesting from a theoretical point of view,…
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…
We use 2D and 3D hybrid (kinetic ions - fluid electrons) simulations to investigate particle acceleration and magnetic field amplification at non-relativistic astrophysical shocks. We show that diffusive shock acceleration operates for…
Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejection (ICME) shocks are known to accelerate particles and contribute significantly to Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events. We have performed Magnetohydrodynamic-Particle in Cell (MHD-PIC) simulations of ICME…
When the pressure of particles accelerated at shock waves is no longer negligible compared to the kinetic pressure of the gas, the linear theory of diffusive shock acceleration breaks down. This is expected in particular when the shock…
Relativistic sources, e.g. gamma-ray bursts, pulsar wind nebulae and powerful active galactic nuclei produce relativistic outflows that lead to the formation of collisionless shock waves, where particle acceleration is thought to take…
Galaxy clusters grow by gas accretion, mostly from mergers of substructures, which release powerful shock waves into cosmic plasmas and convert a fraction of kinetic energy into thermal energy, amplification of magnetic fields and into the…
We study periods of elevated energetic particle intensities observed by STEREO-A when the partial pressure exerted by energetic ($\geq$83 keV) protons ($P_{EP}$) is larger than the pressure exerted by the interplanetary magnetic field…
Context. Among others, shocks are known to be accelerators of energetic charged particles. However, many questions regarding the acceleration efficiency and the required conditions are not fully understood. In particular, the acceleration…
The mechanism of diffusive Fermi acceleration at collisionless plasma shock waves is widely invoked in astrophysics to explain the appearance of non-thermal particle populations in a variety of environments, including sites of cosmic ray…