Physics of Weibel-Mediated Relativistic Collisionless Shocks Article Swipe

View

Related Concepts

Physics Filamentation Weibel instability Plasma Instability Phenomenology (philosophy) Classical mechanics Turbulence Gyrokinetics Quantum electrodynamics Mechanics Quantum mechanics Philosophy Tokamak Epistemology

Martin Lemoine , L. Grémillet , Guy Pelletier , Arno Vanthieghem ·

YOU? · · 2019 · Open Access · · DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.123.035101 · OA: W2960796920

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 nature, and describe at a microscopic level the deceleration and heating of the incoming background plasma through its collisionless interaction with the electromagnetic turbulence. Our model compares well to large-scale 2D3V particle-in-cell simulations, and provides an important touchstone for the phenomenology of such plasma systems.