Two-dimensional particle simulation of the boundary between a hot pair plasma and magnetized electrons and protons: out-of-plane magnetic field

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Hauptverfasser: Dieckmann, M E, Folini, D, Walder, R, Charlet, A, Marcowith, A
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2022
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author Dieckmann, M E
Folini, D
Walder, R
Charlet, A
Marcowith, A
author_facet Dieckmann, M E
Folini, D
Walder, R
Charlet, A
Marcowith, A
contents By means of a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation, we study the interaction between a uniform magnetized ambient electron-proton plasma at rest and an unmagnetized pair plasma, which we inject at one simulation boundary with a mildly relativistic mean speed and temperature. The magnetic field points out of the simulation plane. The injected pair plasma expels the magnetic field and piles it up at its front. It traps ambient electrons and drags them across the protons. An electric field grows, which accelerates protons into the pair cloud's expansion direction. This electromagnetic pulse separates the pair cloud from the ambient plasma. Electrons and positrons, which drift in the pulse's nonuniform field, trigger an instability that disrupts the current sheet ahead of the pulse. The wave vector of the growing perturbation is orthogonal to the magnetic field direction and magnetic tension cannot stabilize it. The electromagnetic pulse becomes permeable for pair plasma, which forms new electromagnetic pulses ahead of the initial one. A transition layer develops with a thickness of a few proton skin depths, in which protons and positrons are accelerated by strong electromagnetic fields. Protons form dense clumps surrounded by a strong magnetic field. The thickness of the transition layer grows less rapidly than we would expect from the typical speeds of the pair plasma particles and the latter transfer momentum to protons; hence, the transition layer acts as a discontinuity, separating the pair plasma from the ambient plasma. Such a discontinuity is an important building block for astrophysical pair plasma jets.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2208_12075
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Two-dimensional particle simulation of the boundary between a hot pair plasma and magnetized electrons and protons: out-of-plane magnetic field
Dieckmann, M E
Folini, D
Walder, R
Charlet, A
Marcowith, A
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Plasma Physics
By means of a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation, we study the interaction between a uniform magnetized ambient electron-proton plasma at rest and an unmagnetized pair plasma, which we inject at one simulation boundary with a mildly relativistic mean speed and temperature. The magnetic field points out of the simulation plane. The injected pair plasma expels the magnetic field and piles it up at its front. It traps ambient electrons and drags them across the protons. An electric field grows, which accelerates protons into the pair cloud's expansion direction. This electromagnetic pulse separates the pair cloud from the ambient plasma. Electrons and positrons, which drift in the pulse's nonuniform field, trigger an instability that disrupts the current sheet ahead of the pulse. The wave vector of the growing perturbation is orthogonal to the magnetic field direction and magnetic tension cannot stabilize it. The electromagnetic pulse becomes permeable for pair plasma, which forms new electromagnetic pulses ahead of the initial one. A transition layer develops with a thickness of a few proton skin depths, in which protons and positrons are accelerated by strong electromagnetic fields. Protons form dense clumps surrounded by a strong magnetic field. The thickness of the transition layer grows less rapidly than we would expect from the typical speeds of the pair plasma particles and the latter transfer momentum to protons; hence, the transition layer acts as a discontinuity, separating the pair plasma from the ambient plasma. Such a discontinuity is an important building block for astrophysical pair plasma jets.
title Two-dimensional particle simulation of the boundary between a hot pair plasma and magnetized electrons and protons: out-of-plane magnetic field
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.12075