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Weibel Instability Driven by Relativistic Pair Jets: Particle Acceleration, Magnetic Field Generation, and Emission

K. -I. Nishikawa·P. Hardee·C. B. Hededal·G. Richardson·H. Sol·R. Preece·G. J. Fishman
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Abstract

Shock acceleration is a ubiquitous phenomenon in astrophysical plasmas. Plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., Buneman, Weibel and other two-stream instabilities) created in collisionless shocks are responsible for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration. Using a 3-D relativistic electromagnetic particle (REMP) code, we have investigated particle acceleration associated with a relativistic jet front propagating into an ambient plasma. We find that the growth times of the Weibel instability in electron-positron jets are not affected by the (electron-positron or electron-ion) ambient plasmas. However, the amplitudes of generated local magnetic fields in the electron-ion ambient plasma are significantly larger than those in the electron-positron ambient plasma.

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K. -I. Nishikawa, P. Hardee, C. B. Hededal, G. Richardson, H. Sol, R. Preece, G. J. Fishman. 2005-03-23. Weibel Instability Driven by Relativistic Pair Jets: Particle Acceleration, Magnetic Field Generation, and Emission. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0503515

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