Abstract
We present the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results of the interaction of a high-energy lepton plasma flow with background electron-proton plasma and focus on the acceleration processes of the protons. It is found that the acceleration follows a two-stage process. In the first stage, protons are significantly accelerated transversely (perpendicular to the lepton flow) by the turbulent magnetic field "islands" generated via the strong Weibel-type instabilities. The accelerated protons shows a perfect inverse-power energy spectrum. As the interaction continues, a shockwave structure forms and the protons in front of the shockwave are reflected at twice of the shock speed, resulting in a quasi-monoenergetic peak located near 200 MeV under the simulation parameters. The presented scenario of ion acceleration may be relevant to cosmic-ray generation in some astrophysical environments.
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 105201 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Science China: Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| Early online date | 5 Sep 2015 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2015 |
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Keywords
- collisionless shock
- Fermi acceleration
- lepton plasma flow
- particle acceleration
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Two-stage acceleration of interstellar ions driven by high-energy lepton plasma flows. / Cui, YunQian; Sheng, Zheng-Ming; Lu, QuanMing; Li, YuTong; Zhang, Jie.
In: Science China: Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy, Vol. 58, No. 10, 105201, 01.10.2015.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Two-stage acceleration of interstellar ions driven by high-energy lepton plasma flows
AU - Cui, YunQian
AU - Sheng, Zheng-Ming
AU - Lu, QuanMing
AU - Li, YuTong
AU - Zhang, Jie
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - We present the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results of the interaction of a high-energy lepton plasma flow with background electron-proton plasma and focus on the acceleration processes of the protons. It is found that the acceleration follows a two-stage process. In the first stage, protons are significantly accelerated transversely (perpendicular to the lepton flow) by the turbulent magnetic field "islands" generated via the strong Weibel-type instabilities. The accelerated protons shows a perfect inverse-power energy spectrum. As the interaction continues, a shockwave structure forms and the protons in front of the shockwave are reflected at twice of the shock speed, resulting in a quasi-monoenergetic peak located near 200 MeV under the simulation parameters. The presented scenario of ion acceleration may be relevant to cosmic-ray generation in some astrophysical environments.
AB - We present the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results of the interaction of a high-energy lepton plasma flow with background electron-proton plasma and focus on the acceleration processes of the protons. It is found that the acceleration follows a two-stage process. In the first stage, protons are significantly accelerated transversely (perpendicular to the lepton flow) by the turbulent magnetic field "islands" generated via the strong Weibel-type instabilities. The accelerated protons shows a perfect inverse-power energy spectrum. As the interaction continues, a shockwave structure forms and the protons in front of the shockwave are reflected at twice of the shock speed, resulting in a quasi-monoenergetic peak located near 200 MeV under the simulation parameters. The presented scenario of ion acceleration may be relevant to cosmic-ray generation in some astrophysical environments.
KW - collisionless shock
KW - Fermi acceleration
KW - lepton plasma flow
KW - particle acceleration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84941144266&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://link.springer.com/journal/11433
U2 - 10.1007/s11433-015-5715-2
DO - 10.1007/s11433-015-5715-2
M3 - Article
VL - 58
JO - Science China: Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy
T2 - Science China: Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy
JF - Science China: Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy
SN - 1674-7348
IS - 10
M1 - 105201
ER -