Related papers: First order Fermi acceleration at multiple oblique…
A major attraction of diffusive shock acceleration is the prediction of power-law spectra for energetic particle distributions. However, this property is not fundamental to the theory. We demonstrate that for planar shocks with an oblique…
Using an eigenfunction expansion to solve the transport equation, complemented by Monte-Carlo simulations, we show that ultrarelativistic shocks can be effective particle accelerators even when they fail to produce large amplitude…
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…
We determine the spectrum of particles accelerated at shocks with arbitrary speed and arbitrary scattering properties for different choices of the equation of state of the downstream plasma. More specifically we consider the effect of…
We consider the acceleration of energetic particles by Fermi processes (i.e., diffusive shock acceleration, second order Fermi acceleration, and gradual shear acceleration) in relativistic astrophysical jets, with particular attention given…
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 evidence that relativistic shocks propagating in unmagnetized plasmas can self-consistently accelerate particles. We use long-term two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to study the well-developed shock structure in…
Particles crossing repeatedly the surface of a shock wave can be energized by first order Fermi acceleration. The linear theory is successful in describing the acceleration process as long as the pressure of the accelerated particles…
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 comprehensive review is given of the various processes proposed for accelerating particles by shocks to high energies. These energies are limited by several bounds: the non-relativistic nature of the heliospheric collisionless shocks to…
We investigate the spatial distribution of charged particles accelerated by non-relativistic oblique fast collisionless shocks using three-dimensional test-particle simulations. We find that the density of low-energy particles exhibit a…
We show that the diffusion approximation breaks down for particle acceleration at oblique shocks with velocities typical of young supernova remnants. Higher order anisotropies flatten the spectral index at quasi-parallel shocks and steepen…
The theory of first order Fermi acceleration at shocks assumes that particles diffuse due to scattering off slow-moving magnetic irregularities. However, cosmic rays are closely tied to magnetic field lines, and the transport process,…
Particle acceleration at astrophysical shocks may be very efficient if magnetic scattering is self-generated by the same particles. This nonlinear process adds to the nonlinear modification of the shock due to the dynamical reaction of the…
We investigate shock acceleration in a realistic astrophysical environment with density inhomogeneities. The turbulence induced by the interaction of the shock precursor with upstream density fluctuations amplifies both upstream and…
Merger and accretion shocks in clusters of galaxies can accelerate particles via first order Fermi process. Since this mechanism is believed to be intrinsically efficient, shocks are expected to be modified by the backreaction of the…
We investigate the physics of particle acceleration at non-relativistic shocks exploiting two different and complementary approaches, namely a semi-analytic modeling of cosmic-ray modified shocks and large hybrid (kinetic protons/fluid…
We study the acceleration of electrons and positrons at an electromagnetically modified, ultra-relativistic shock in the context of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). We simulate the outflow produced by an obliquely rotating pulsar in proximity of…
The physics of particle acceleration in turbulent plasmas is a topic of broad interest, which is making rapid progress thanks to dedicated, large-scale numerical experiments. The first part of this paper presents an effective theory of…
This work provides a concrete implementation of E. Fermi's model of particle acceleration in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, connecting the rate of energization to the gradients of the velocity of magnetic field lines, which it…