A current driven instability in parallel, relativistic shocks

Recently, Bell [2] has reanalysed the problem of wave excitation by cosmic rays propagating in the pre-cursor region of a supernova remnant shock front. He pointed out a strong, nonresonant, current-driven instability previously overlooked in kinetic treatments [1, 5] and suggested that it can subst...

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Main Authors: Reville, B, Kirk, J, Duffy, P
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2006
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author Reville, B
Kirk, J
Duffy, P
author_facet Reville, B
Kirk, J
Duffy, P
author_sort Reville, B
collection OXFORD
description Recently, Bell [2] has reanalysed the problem of wave excitation by cosmic rays propagating in the pre-cursor region of a supernova remnant shock front. He pointed out a strong, nonresonant, current-driven instability previously overlooked in kinetic treatments [1, 5] and suggested that it can substantially amplify the ambient magnetic field. Magnetic field amplification is also an important issue regarding the formation and structure of relativistic shock fronts, particularly in relation to models of gamma-ray bursts [4]. We have generalised the linear analysis to apply to this case, assuming a relativistic background plasma and a monoenergetic, unidirectional incoming proton beam. We find essentially the same nonresonant instability noticed by Bell, and show that also under GRB conditions, it grows much faster than the resonant waves.We quantify the extent to which thermal effects in the background plasma limit the maximum growth rate.
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spelling oxford-uuid:6e5be5df-9cfd-4fcd-a08a-0914f076f7a12022-03-26T19:23:55ZA current driven instability in parallel, relativistic shocksJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:6e5be5df-9cfd-4fcd-a08a-0914f076f7a1EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2006Reville, BKirk, JDuffy, PRecently, Bell [2] has reanalysed the problem of wave excitation by cosmic rays propagating in the pre-cursor region of a supernova remnant shock front. He pointed out a strong, nonresonant, current-driven instability previously overlooked in kinetic treatments [1, 5] and suggested that it can substantially amplify the ambient magnetic field. Magnetic field amplification is also an important issue regarding the formation and structure of relativistic shock fronts, particularly in relation to models of gamma-ray bursts [4]. We have generalised the linear analysis to apply to this case, assuming a relativistic background plasma and a monoenergetic, unidirectional incoming proton beam. We find essentially the same nonresonant instability noticed by Bell, and show that also under GRB conditions, it grows much faster than the resonant waves.We quantify the extent to which thermal effects in the background plasma limit the maximum growth rate.
spellingShingle Reville, B
Kirk, J
Duffy, P
A current driven instability in parallel, relativistic shocks
title A current driven instability in parallel, relativistic shocks
title_full A current driven instability in parallel, relativistic shocks
title_fullStr A current driven instability in parallel, relativistic shocks
title_full_unstemmed A current driven instability in parallel, relativistic shocks
title_short A current driven instability in parallel, relativistic shocks
title_sort current driven instability in parallel relativistic shocks
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AT duffyp acurrentdriveninstabilityinparallelrelativisticshocks
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AT kirkj currentdriveninstabilityinparallelrelativisticshocks
AT duffyp currentdriveninstabilityinparallelrelativisticshocks