Related papers: Very High Mach Number Electrostatic Shocks in Coll…
Collisionless shocks play an important role in space and astrophysical plasmas by irreversibly converting the energy of the incoming supersonic plasma flows into other forms, including plasma heat, particle acceleration, and electromagnetic…
We explore the physics of shock evolution and particle acceleration in non-relativistic collisionless shocks using multidimensional hybrid simulations. We analyze a wide range of physical parameters relevant to the acceleration of cosmic…
The properties of collisionless shocks are frequently assessed in the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) model. Yet, in a collisionless plasma, an ambient magnetic field can sustain a stable anisotropy in the upstream or the downstream, resulting…
Laser-ablated high-energy-density (HED) plasmas offer a promising route to study astrophysically relevant processes underlying collisionless shock formation, magnetic field amplification, and particle acceleration in the laboratory. Using…
We analyse the full shock formation process in electron-ion plasmas in theory and simulations. It is accepted that electromagnetic shocks in initially unmagnetised relativistic plasmas are triggered by the filamentation instability.…
The theoretical model by Sorasio et al. (2006) for the steady state Mach number of electrostatic shocks formed in the interaction of two plasma slabs of arbitrary density and temperature is generalized for relativistic electron and…
Charged plasma particles form an anisotropic counter-streaming distribution at the front of a shock. In the near- and ultra-relativistic regimes, Weibel (or two-stream) instability produces near-equipartition, chaotic, small-scale magnetic…
The instability of a monoenergetic electron beam in a collisional one-dimensional plasma bounded between grounded walls is considered both analytically and numerically. Collisions between electrons and neutrals are accounted for the plasma…
Electron acceleration to non-thermal energies in low Mach number (M<5) shocks is revealed by radio and X-ray observations of galaxy clusters and solar flares, but the electron acceleration mechanism remains poorly understood. Diffusive…
We investigate the acceleration of charged particles (both electrons and protons) at collisionless shocks predicted to exist in the vicinity of solar flares. The existence of standing termination shocks has been examined by flare models and…
We develop a comprehensive theoretical model of relativistic collisionless pair shocks mediated by the current filamentation instability. We notably characterize the noninertial frame in which this instability is of a mostly magnetic…
Collisionless shocks are complex nonlinear structures that are not yet fully understood. In particular, the interaction between these shocks and the particles they accelerate remains elusive. Based on an instability analysis that relates…
Particle acceleration in collisionless plasma systems is a central question in astroplasma and astroparticle physics. The structure of the acceleration regions, electron-ion energy equilibration, preacceleration of particles at shocks to…
Shock waves in plasmas can be characterized by the mechanisms behind their formation. When binary collisions are frequent, dissipation is collision-driven and the shock width is a few mean free paths. In contrast, collisionless shocks rely…
The collision of two expanding plasma clouds is investigated, emphasizing instabilities and electron energization in the plasma mixing layer. This work is directly relevant to laboratory experiments with explosively-created laser or z-pinch…
Collisionless shocks are frequently analyzed using the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) formalism, even though MHD assumes a small mean free path. Yet, isotropy of pressure, fruit of binary collisions and assumed in MHD, may not apply in…
Electrostatic two-stream instabilities play essential roles in an electrostatic collisionless shock formation. They are a key dissipation mechanism and result in ion heating and acceleration. Since the number and energy of the…
We investigate ion-scale kinetic plasma instabilities at the collisionless shock using linear theory and nonlinear Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations. We focus on the Alfv\'en-ion-cyclotron (AIC), mirror, and Weibel instabilities, which are…
Perpendicular collisionless shocks propagating into partially ionized plasmas are investigated by two-dimensional hybrid particle simulations. It is shown that some neutral particles leak into the upstream region from the downstream region,…
When a laser field is incident on an overdense plasma it is unable to penetrate inside it. Nevertheless, a part of its energy gets transferred to the electrons through a variety of mechanisms (e.g. vacuum and $\vec{J}\times \vec{B}) heating…