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- Dieckmann, Mark E, 1969-, et al.
(author)
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Cocoon formation by a mildly relativistic pair jet in unmagnetized collisionless electron-proton plasma
- 2018
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In: Physics of Plasmas. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 1070-664X .- 1089-7674. ; 25:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- By modelling the expansion of a cloud of electrons and positrons with the temperature of 400 keV which propagates at the mean speed of 0.9c (c: speed of light) through an initially unmagnetized electron-proton plasma with a particle-in-cell simulation, we find a mechanism that collimates the pair cloud into a jet. A filamentation (beam-Weibel) instability develops. Its magnetic field collimates the positrons and drives an electrostatic shock into the electron-proton plasma. The magnetic field acts as a discontinuity that separates the protons of the shocked ambient plasma, known as the outer cocoon, from the jet's interior region. The outer cocoon expands at the speed of 0.15c along the jet axis and at 0.03c perpendicularly to it. The filamentation instability converts the jet's directed flow energy into magnetic energy in the inner cocoon. The magnetic discontinuity cannot separate the ambient electrons from the jet electrons. Both species rapidly mix and become indistinguishable. The spatial distribution of the positive charge carriers is in agreement with the distributions of the ambient material and the jet material predicted by a hydrodynamic model apart from a dilute positronic outflow that is accelerated by the electromagnetic field at the jet's head.
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2. |
- Dieckmann, Mark E, 1969-, et al.
(author)
-
Expansion of a radially symmetric blast shell into a uniformly magnetized plasma
- 2018
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In: Physics of Plasmas. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 1070-664X .- 1089-7674. ; 25:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The expansion of a thermal pressure-driven radial blast shell into a dilute ambient plasma is examined with two-dimensional PIC simulations. The purpose is to determine if laminar shocks form in a collisionless plasma which resemble their magnetohydrodynamic counterparts. The ambient plasma is composed of electrons with the temperature of 2 keV and cool fully ionized nitrogen ions. It is permeated by a spatially uniform magnetic field. A forward shock forms between the shocked ambient medium and the pristine ambient medium, which changes from an ion acoustic one through a slow magnetosonic one to a fast magnetosonic shock with increasing shock propagation angles relative to the magnetic field. The slow magnetosonic shock that propagates obliquely to the magnetic field changes into a tangential discontinuity for a perpendicular propagation direction, which is in line with the magnetohydrodynamic model. The expulsion of the magnetic field by the expanding blast shell triggers an electron-cyclotron drift instability.
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3. |
- Dieckmann, Mark E, 1969-, et al.
(author)
-
One-dimensional thermal pressure-driven expansion of a pair cloud into an electron-proton plasma
- 2018
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In: Physics of Plasmas. - Melville, NY, United States : A I P Publishing LLC. - 1070-664X .- 1089-7674. ; 25:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recently, a filamentation instability was observed when a laser-generated pair cloud interacted with an ambient plasma. The magnetic field it drove was strong enough to magnetize and accelerate the ambient electrons. It is of interest to determine if and how pair cloud-driven instabilities can accelerate ions in the laboratory or in astrophysical plasma. For this purpose, the expansion of a localized pair cloud with the temperature 400 keV into a cooler ambient electron-proton plasma is studied by means of one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The cloud's expansion triggers the formation of electron phase space holes that accelerate some protons to MeV energies. Forthcoming lasers might provide the energy needed to create a cloud that can accelerate protons.
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