Magnetic field amplification by the Weibel instability at planetary and astrophysical high-Mach-number shocks

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe and often associated with strong magnetic field. Here we use large-scale particle-in-cell simulations of non-relativistic perpendicular shocks in the high-Mach-number regime to study the amplification of magnetic field within shocks. The magnetic f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2021-02
Main Authors: Bohdan, Artem, Pohl, Martin, Niemiec, Jacek, Morris, Paul J, Matsumoto, Yosuke, Amano, Takanobu, Hoshino, Masahiro, Sulaiman, Ali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplification
Cassini mission
Field strength
Mach number
Magnetic fields
Particle in cell technique
Saturn
Spacecraft
Weibel instability
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Summary:Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe and often associated with strong magnetic field. Here we use large-scale particle-in-cell simulations of non-relativistic perpendicular shocks in the high-Mach-number regime to study the amplification of magnetic field within shocks. The magnetic field is amplified at the shock transition due to the ion-ion two-stream Weibel instability. The normalized magnetic-field strength strongly correlates with the Alfvénic Mach number. Mock spacecraft measurements derived from PIC simulations are fully consistent with those taken in-situ at Saturn's bow shock by the Cassini spacecraft.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2102.04328