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Related papers: The termination shock in a striped pulsar wind

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We present numerical modelling of particle acceleration at coronal shocks propagating through a streamer-like magnetic field by solving the Parker transport equation with spatial diffusion both along and across the magnetic field. We show…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2019-09-25 Xiangliang Kong , Fan Guo , Yao Chen , Joe Giacalone

Relativistic shocks are considered efficient accelerators of charged particles and play crucial roles in high-energy astrophysical phenomena, such as gamma-ray bursts and pulsar winds. This study focuses on positron accelerations in…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-02-25 Shori Arai , Yosuke Matsumoto

Although several theories for the origin of cosmic rays in the region between the spectral `knee' and `ankle' exist, this problem is still unsolved. A variety of observations suggest that the transition from Galactic to extragalactic…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2018-06-06 Lukas Merten , Chad Bustard , Ellen G. Zweibel , Julia Becker Tjus

We review the physics of relativistic shocks, which are often invoked as the sources of non-thermal particles in pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets, and as possible sources of…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-11-21 Lorenzo Sironi , Uri Keshet , Martin Lemoine

Twisted coronal loops should be ubiquitous in the solar corona. Twisted magnetic fields contain excess magnetic energy, which can be released during magnetic reconnection, causing solar flares. The aim of this work is to investigate…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-01-27 Mykola Gordovskyy , Philippa Browning , Eduard Kontar , Nicolas Bian

We present a scenario that could explain non-thermal particle acceleration in relativistic quasi-perpendicular electron-positron shocks, such as the termination shock of pulsar wind nebulae. The shock produces a strong electromagnetic…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-09-10 Emanuele Sobacchi , Yuri Lyubarsky , Lorenzo Sironi , Masanori Iwamoto

We present a model for the creation of non-thermal particles via diffusive shock acceleration in a colliding-wind binary. Our model accounts for the oblique nature of the global shocks bounding the wind-wind collision region and the finite…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2021-04-28 J. M. Pittard , G. E. Romero , G. S. Vila

We consider a series of MHD simulations in which a small amplitude, transverse velocity perturbation is introduced into a complex magnetic field. We analysed the deformation of the wave fronts as the perturbation propagates through the…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2019-09-11 Thomas Howson , Ineke De Moortel , Jack Reid , Alan Hood

We investigate electron acceleration resulting from 3D magnetic reconnection between an emerging, twisted magnetic flux rope and a pre-existing weak, open magnetic field. We first follow the rise of an unstable, twisted flux tube with a…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2012-11-07 G. Baumann , Å. Nordlund

An approximate analytical solution for the rotating twisted magnetosphere of magnetars is presented. The poloidal flux is approximated by the self-similar twisted dipole field. The toroidal field is obtained by the minimum torque model.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-12-05 H. Tong , L. Chen

We demonstrate that particles are regularly accelerated while experiencing curvature drift in flows driven by magnetic tension. Some examples of such flows include spontaneous turbulent reconnection and decaying magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-03-04 Andrey Beresnyak , Hui Li

We present a first-principles model of pitch-angle and energy distribution function evolution as particles are sequentially accelerated by multiple flare magnetic islands. Data from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of an eruptive…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2022-02-16 Silvina E. Guidoni , Judith T. Karpen , C. Richard DeVore

Soon after the discovery of radio pulsars in 1967, the pulsars are identified as strongly magnetic (typically $10^{12}$G) rapidly rotating ($\sim 10^{2}-0.1$ Hz) neutron stars. However, the mechanism of particle acceleration in the pulsar…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 Tomohide Wada , Shinpei Shibata

When a star gets tidally disrupted by a supermassive black hole, its magnetic field is expected to pervade its debris. In this paper, we study this process via smoothed particle magnetohydrodynamical simulations of the disruption and early…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-06-28 Clément Bonnerot , Daniel J. Price , Giuseppe Lodato , Elena M. Rossi

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…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-10-02 Allard Jan van Marle , Fabien Casse , Alexandre Marcowith

Using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we study the evolution of a strongly magnetized plasma slab propagating into a finite density ambient medium. Like previous work, we find that the slab breaks into discrete magnetic pulses. The…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-11 Gunnar Paesold , Eric G. Blackman , Peter Messmer

After introduction we focus on: the transport of charged particles, the acceleration of ions at shocks, and the acceleration of electrons at shocks. Chapter 2 studies the propagation of solar energetic particles(SEPs) in turbulent magnetic…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2012-11-16 Fan Guo

We have investigated particle acceleration and shock structure associated with an unmagnetized relativistic jet propagating into an unmagnetized plasma. Strong magnetic fields generated in the trailing jet shock lead to transverse…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-06-15 K. -I. Nishikawa , P. Hardee , B. Zhang , I. Dutan , M. Medvedev , E. J. Choi , K. W. Min , J. Niemiec , Y. Mizuno , A. Nordlund , J. T. Frederiksen , H. Sol , M. Pohl , D. H. Hartmann

We have investigated particle acceleration and emission from shocks and shear flows associated with an unmagnetized relativistic jet plasma propagating into an unmagnetized ambient plasma. Strong electro-magnetic fields are generated in the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2014-12-23 K. -I. Nishikawa , P. Hardee , I. Dutan , B. Zhang , A. Meli , E. J. Choi , K. Min , J. Niemiec , Y. Mizuno , M. Medvedev , A. Nordlund , J. T. Frederiksen , H. Sol , M. Pohl , D. Hartmann

Shear flows, ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas, can accelerate particles through turbulence excited by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. We present the first numerical study of particle acceleration in non-relativistic,…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-12-16 Mingxuan Liu , Mateusz Ruszkowski , Ellen Zweibel , Xiaochen Sun , Damiano Caprioli , Naixin Liang , Siang Peng Oh , Anatoly Spitkovsky