Recent progresses in relativistic beam-plasma instability theory
Beam-plasma instabilities are a key physical process in many astrophysical phenomena. Within the fireball model of Gamma ray bursts, they first mediate a relativistic collisionless shock before they produce upstream the turbulence needed for the Fermi acceleration process. While non-relativistic...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2010-11-01
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| Series: | Annales Geophysicae |
| Online Access: | https://www.ann-geophys.net/28/2127/2010/angeo-28-2127-2010.pdf |
| Summary: | Beam-plasma instabilities are a key physical process in many astrophysical
phenomena. Within the fireball model of Gamma ray bursts, they first mediate
a relativistic collisionless shock before they produce upstream the
turbulence needed for the Fermi acceleration process. While non-relativistic
systems are usually governed by flow-aligned unstable modes, relativistic
ones are likely to be dominated by normally or even obliquely propagating
waves. After reviewing the basis of the theory, results related to the
relativistic kinetic regime of the poorly-known oblique unstable modes will
be presented. Relevant systems besides the well-known electron beam-plasma
interaction are presented, and it is shown how the concept of modes hierarchy
yields a criterion to assess the proton to electron mass ratio in Particle in
cell simulations. |
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| ISSN: | 0992-7689 1432-0576 |