Related papers: GRB Phenomenology, Shock Dynamo, and the First Mag…
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow emission is believed to be produced by synchrotron emission of electrons accelerated to high energy by a relativistic collisionless shock propagating into a weakly magnetized plasma. Afterglow observations…
Particle acceleration in collisionless shocks is believed to be responsible for the production of cosmic-rays over a wide range of energies, from few GeV to >10^{20}eV, as well as for the non-thermal emission of radiation from a wide…
We describe a scenario for large-scale magnetic field generation and particle acceleration in a collisionless collision of cold plasma clouds. A first-principle (i.e. using particles) numerical simulation of this process might be possible.…
A direct numerical simulation of a strong relativistic collisionless shock propagating into an unmagnetized medium has been performed in two spatial dimensions. It is found that: (i) collisionless shock exists, (ii) particle acceleration is…
The radiation from afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) is generated in collisionless plasma shocks. The two main ingredients behind the radiation are high-energy, non-thermal electrons and a strong magnetic field. I argue that in order to…
Collisionless shocks are commonly argued to be the sites of cosmic ray (CR) acceleration. We study the influence of CRs on weakly magnetized relativistic collisionless shocks and apply our results to external shocks in gamma-ray burst (GRB)…
The origins of the magnetic fields that power gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow emission are not fully understood. One possible channel for generating these fields involves the pre-conditioning of the circumburst medium: in the early…
Cosmic rays accelerated by a shock form a streaming distribution of outgoing particles in the foreshock region. If the ambient fields are negligible compared to the shock and cosmic ray energetics, a stronger magnetic field can be generated…
We present a theory of ultrarelativistic collisionless shocks based on the relativistic kinetic two-stream instability. We demonstrate that the shock front is unstable to the generation of small-scale, randomly tangled magnetic fields.…
The external forward shock emitting the gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow is collisionless, and it is mediated by the Weibel instability which generates the magnetic field. The GRB afterglow shows that the magnetic field in the large…
We show that the relativistic two-stream instability can naturally generate strong magnetic fields with 1e-5 - 1e-1 of the equipartition energy density, in the collisionless shocks of Gamma-Ray-Burst (GRB) sources. The generated fields are…
We study the long term evolution of magnetic fields generated by an initially unmagnetized collisionless relativistic $e^+e^-$ shock. Our 2D particle-in-cell numerical simulations show that downstream of such a Weibel-mediated shock,…
Afterglows of gamma-ray bursts are believed to require magnetic fields much stronger than that of the compressed pre-shock medium. As an alternative to microscopic plasma instabilities, we propose amplification of the field by macroscopic…
Long-lived >100 MeV emission has been a common feature of most Fermi-LAT detected gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), e.g., detected up to ~10^3s in long GRBs 080916C and 090902B and ~10^2s in short GRB 090510. This emission is consistent with being…
We present results from three-dimensional particle simulations of collisionless shocks with relativistic counter-streaming ion-electron plasmas. Particles are followed over many skin depths downstream of the shock. Open boundaries allow the…
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…
The afterglows of gamma-ray bursts are non-thermal electron synchrotron emissions from relativistic shocks. The origin of strong magnetic field in the emission region remains elusive, and two field amplification mechanisms via the plasma…
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…
In models for gamma ray burst afterglows, it is normally assumed that the external shock strongly amplifies the magnetic field and that this field maintains a steady value throughout the shocked region. We discuss the effects of modifying…
Radiation from GRBs in the prompt phase, flares and an afterglow is thought to be produced by accelerated electrons in magnetic fields. Such emission may be produced at collisionless shocks of baryonic outflows or at reconnection sites (at…