Collisionless Shocks Driven by Supersonic Plasma Flows with Self-Generated Magnetic Fields

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe as a consequence of supersonic plasma flows sweeping through interstellar and intergalactic media. These shocks are the cause of many observed astrophysical phenomena, but details of shock structure and behavior remain controversial because of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2019-08, Vol.123 (5), p.055002-055002, Article 055002
Main Authors: Li, C K, Tikhonchuk, V T, Moreno, Q, Sio, H, D'Humières, E, Ribeyre, X, Korneev, Ph, Atzeni, S, Betti, R, Birkel, A, Campbell, E M, Follett, R K, Frenje, J A, Hu, S X, Koenig, M, Sakawa, Y, Sangster, T C, Seguin, F H, Takabe, H, Zhang, S, Petrasso, R D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
Electron acceleration
Fluid dynamics
Intergalactic media
Interstellar
Physics
Plasma Physics
Universe
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Summary:Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe as a consequence of supersonic plasma flows sweeping through interstellar and intergalactic media. These shocks are the cause of many observed astrophysical phenomena, but details of shock structure and behavior remain controversial because of the lack of ways to study them experimentally. Laboratory experiments reported here, with astrophysically relevant plasma parameters, demonstrate for the first time the formation of a quasiperpendicular magnetized collisionless shock. In the upstream it is fringed by a filamented turbulent region, a rudiment for a secondary Weibel-driven shock. This turbulent structure is found responsible for electron acceleration to energies exceeding the average energy by two orders of magnitude.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.055002