Related papers: Particle Acceleration at Relativistic Shocks
Electron acceleration to non-thermal energies is known to occur in low Mach number (M<5) shocks in galaxy clusters and solar flares, but the electron acceleration mechanism remains poorly understood. Using two-dimensional (2D)…
We discuss a semi-analytical solution of the transport equation for electrons at a non-relativistic shock in the presence of synchrotron energy losses. We calculate the spectrum of accelerated (test) particles at any point upstream and…
Relativistic particle acceleration in collisionless shocks of supernova remnants is accompanied by magnetic field amplification from cosmic ray (CR) driven plasma instabilities. Bell's fast CR-current instability is predicted to produce…
We propose a new way of quick and very efficient acceleration of protons and/or electrons in relativistic bulk flows. The new mechanism takes advantage of conversion of particles from the charged state (protons or electrons/positrons) into…
In relativistic dynamics, force and acceleration are no longer parallel. In this article, we revisit the relativistic motion of a particle under the action of a constant force, $\boldsymbol{f}$. \ For a two-dimensional motion, the final…
The acceleration mechanism at ultrarelativistic shocks is investigated using the Monte Carlo simulations. We apply a method of discrete small amplitude particle momentum scattering to reproduce highly anisotropic conditions at the shock and…
Collisionless shocks generated by two colliding relativistic electron-positron plasma shells are studied using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Shocks are mediated by the Weibel instability (WI), and the kinetic energy of the fastest…
We examine the impact of several factors on electron acceleration by a laser pulse and the resulting electron energy gain. Specifically, we consider the role played by: 1) static longitudinal electric field; 2) static transverse electric…
What are the mechanisms of particle acceleration and radiation, as well as magnetic field build up and decay in relativistic shocks are open questions with important implications to various phenomena in high energy astrophysics. While the…
In this review we confront the current theoretical understanding of particle acceleration at relativistic outflows with recent observational results on various source classes thought to involve such outflows, e.g. gamma-ray bursts, active…
MeV seed photons produced in shocks in a variable ultra-relativistic outflow gain energy by the Fermi mechanism, because the photons Compton scatter off relativistically colliding shells. The Fermi-modified high-energy photon spectrum has a…
We derive a relativistically covariant (although not manifestly so) equation for the distribution function of particles accelerated at shocks, which applies also to extremely relativistic shocks, and arbitrarily anisotropic particle…
We adapt and modify the eigenfunction method of computing the power-law spectrum of particles accelerated at a relativistic shock front via the first-order Fermi process (Kirk, J.G., Schneider, P., Astrophysical Journal 315, 425 (1987)) to…
We propose a new particle acceleration mechanism. Electron can be accelerated to relativistic energy within a few electromagnetic wave cycles through the mechanism which is named electromagnetic and magnetic field resonance acceleration…
We numerically investigate a crucial parameter for understanding particle acceleration theory via turbulence-induced magnetic reconnection: the particle acceleration time. We examine particles accelerated either during the jet's dynamic…
Relativistic shocks propagating into a medium with low magnetization are generated and sustained by small-scale but very strong magnetic field turbulence. This so-called "microturbulence" modifies the typical shock acceleration process, and…
Gamma-ray bursts are often the brightest objects in the sky during their short life. Particle acceleration in trans-relativistic shocks, internal to the main blastwave, may explain the early intensity peaks, and particle acceleration in the…
Numerical results for particle acceleration at multiple oblique shocks are presented. We calculate the steady state spectral slope of test particles accelerated by the first order Fermi process. The results are compared to analytical…
An oblique-rotating pulsar generates a relativistic striped wind in a pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The termination shock of the PWN compresses the Poynting-flux-dominated flow and drives magnetic reconnection. By carrying out particle-in-cell…
We formulate the first order Fermi acceleration in parallel shock waves in terms of the random walk theory. The formulation is applicable to any value of the shock speed and the particle speed, in particular to the acceleration in…