Related papers: Non-equilibrium effects in steady relativistic $e^…
We report the results of 1D particle-in-cell simulations of ultrarelativistic shock waves in proton-electron-positron plasmas. We consider magnetized shock waves, in which the upstream medium carries a large scale magnetic field, directed…
(abbreviated) In this note we consider, in a weak-field limit, a relativistic linear motion of two particles with opposite signs of masses having a small difference between their absolute values $m_{1,2}=\pm (\mu\pm \Delta \mu) $, $\mu >…
Gamma-ray binaries are composed of a massive star and a rotation-powered pulsar with a highly relativistic wind. The collision between the winds from both objects creates a shock structure where particles are accelerated, resulting in the…
Thermodynamic and spectral properties of a photon gas in $e^+e^-\gamma$ plasmas are studied. The effect of a finite effective mass of a photon, associated with the plasma frequency cutoff, is self-consistently included. In the…
Powerful radio sources and quasars emit relativistic jets of plasma and magnetic fields that travel hundreds of kilo-parsecs, ultimately depositing energy into the intra- or inter-cluster medium. In the rest frame of the jet, the energy…
Velocities close to the speed of light are a robust observational property of the jets observed in microquasars and AGNs, and are expected to be behind much of the phenomenology of GRBs. Yet, the mechanism boosting relativistic jets to such…
Opacity effects in relativistic sources of high-energy gamma-rays, such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) or Blazars, can probe the Lorentz factor of the outflow and the distance of the emission site from the source, and thus help constrain the…
Based on the concept of extended particles recently introduced we perform a Gedankenexperiment accelerating single electrons with photons of suitably low frequency. Accounting for relativistic time dilation due to the acquired velocity and…
Previous studies from the astrophysics and laser physics communities have identified an interesting phenomenon wherein ultrarelativistic charged particles experiencing strong radiation reaction tend to move along special directions fixed by…
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 report on the laser-driven generation of purely neutral, relativistic electron-positron pair plasmas. The overall charge neutrality, high average Lorentz factor ($\gamma_{e/p} \approx 15$), small divergence ($\theta_{e/p} \approx 10 -…
The secular dynamics of a non-relativistic charged particle in an electromagnetic wave can be described by the ponderomotive potential. Although ponderomotive electron-laser interactions at relativistic velocities are important for emerging…
We consider a theory with isotropic nonbirefringent Lorentz violation in the photon sector and explore the effects on the development of the electromagnetic component of extensive air showers in the Earth atmosphere. Specifically, we…
The emission of $\nu\bar\nu$ pairs off electrons in a polarized ultra-intense electromagnetic (e.g.\ laser) wave field is analyzed. We elaborate on the significance of non-linear electrodynamics effects (i.e., multi-photon processes) and…
Highly magnetized, rapidly rotating compact objects are widely argued as central energy sources of $\gamma$-ray bursts (GRBs). After the GRB, such a magnetar-like object may directly lose its rotational energy through some…
The prompt emissions of gamma-ray bursts are seeded by radiating ultrarelativistic electrons. Internal shocks propagating through a jet launched by a stellar implosion, are expected to amplify the magnetic field & accelerate electrons. We…
We consider the electron density at the position of an ion of charge Ze in a plasma under conditions approximating those in the core of the sun. Numerical calculations have shown that the plasma effects on the density, over and above the…
Radiative transfer equation in an accretion disk wind is examined analytically and numerically under the plane-parallel approximation in the subrelativistic regime of $(v/c)^1$, where $v$ is the wind vertical velocity. Emergent intensity is…
We propose a straightforward and efficient mechanism for the high-energy emission of relativistic astrophysical jets associated with an exchange of interacting high-energy photons between the jet and the external environment. Physical…
The $\eta$ Carinae binary system is the first $\gamma$-ray binary ever observed which does not contain a compact object. The dense wind of the primary star shocks against the fast light wind coming from the companion star, creating the…