Related papers: Relativistic Particle Acceleration in a Folded Cur…
The acceleration of dense targets driven by the radiation pressure of high-intensity lasers leads to a Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) with rippling of the interaction surface. Using a simple model it is shown that the self-consistent…
We study the evolution of kink instability in a force-free, non-rotating plasma column of high magnetization. The main dissipation mechanism is identified as reconnection of magnetic field-lines with various intersection angles, driven by…
We review basic theoretical concepts in particle acceleration, with particular emphasis on processes likely to occur in regions of magnetic reconnection. Several new developments are discussed, including detailed studies of reconnection in…
The physics of instabilities in the precursor of relativistic collisionless shocks is of broad importance in high energy astrophysics, because these instabilities build up the shock, control the particle acceleration process and generate…
Many powerful and variable gamma-ray sources, including pulsar wind nebulae, active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts, seem capable of accelerating particles to gamma-ray emitting energies efficiently over very short time scales. These…
Fast particles diffusing along magnetic field lines in a turbulent plasma can diffuse through and then return to the same eddy many times before the eddy is randomized in the turbulent flow. This leads to an enhancement of particle…
Using fully kinetic simulations, we demonstrate that magnetic reconnection in relativistic plasmas is highly efficient at accelerating particles through a first-order Fermi process resulting from the curvature drift of particles in the…
Understanding the conditions conducive to particle acceleration at collisionless, non-relativistic shocks is important for the origin of cosmic rays. We use hybrid (kinetic ions -- fluid electrons) kinetic simulations to investigate…
In this review, we examine particle transport in strongly turbulent three-dimensional (3D) magnetized plasmas, characterized by intense (large-amplitude) magnetic field fluctuations. Such environments naturally give rise to a network of…
Using analytical and numerical methods (fluid and particle-in-cell simulations) we study a number of model problems involving merger of magnetic flux tubes in relativistic magnetically-dominated plasma. Mergers of current-carrying flux…
In an attempt to look for a viable mechanism leading to a present-day accelerated expansion, we investigate the possibility that the observed cosmic speed up may be recovered in the framework of the Rastall's theory, relying on the…
(abridged) We present results of test-particle simulations on both the first and the second order Fermi acceleration at relativistic parallel shock waves. We consider two scenarios for particle injection: (i) particles injected at the shock…
Particle currents flowing against an external driving are a fascinating phenomenon in both single-particle and interacting many-particle systems. Underlying physical mechanisms of such current reversals are not fully understood yet.…
In this Letter, we present a new self-consistent theory for the production of the relativistic outflows observed from radio-loud black hole candidates and active galaxies as a result of particle acceleration in hot, viscous accretion disks…
We investigate the acceleration and transport of electrons in the highly fine-structured current sheet that develops during magnetic flux rope (MFR) eruptions. Our work combines ultra-resolved MHD simulations of MFR eruption, with…
Cosmic sources of gamma-ray radiation in the GeV range are often characterized by violent variability, in particular this concerns blazars, gamma-ray bursts, and the pulsar wind nebula Crab. Such gamma-ray emission requires a very efficient…
The evolution of current sheets in accretion flows undergoing magnetorotational instability (MRI) is examined through two and three dimensional numerical modelling of the resistive MHD equations in global cylindrical geometry. With an…
The linear and nonlinear evolution of magnetic reconnection in collisionless high-temperature plasmas with a strong guide field is analyzed on the basis of a two-dimensional gyrofluid model. The linear growth rate of the reconnecting…
Collisionless tearing instability with a power-law distribution function in a relativistic pair plasma with a guide field is studied. When the current sheet is supported by plasma pressure, the tearing mode is suppressed as the particle…
The theoretical prediction that magnetic reconnection spontaneously drives turbulence has been supported by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and kinetic simulations. While reconnection with externally driven turbulence is accepted as an effective…