Radiative cooling induced coherent maser emission in relativistic plasmas

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Bilbao, Pablo J., Silva, Thales, Silva, Luis O.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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author Bilbao, Pablo J.
Silva, Thales
Silva, Luis O.
author_facet Bilbao, Pablo J.
Silva, Thales
Silva, Luis O.
contents Relativistic plasmas in strong electromagnetic fields exhibit distinct properties compared to classical plasmas. In astrophysical environments, such as neutron stars, white dwarfs, AGNs, and shocks, relativistic plasmas are pervasive and are expected to play a crucial role in the dynamics of these systems. Despite their significance, both experimental and theoretical studies of such plasmas have been limited. Here, we present the first ab initio high-resolution kinetic simulations of relativistic plasmas undergoing synchrotron cooling in a highly magnetized medium. Our results demonstrate that these plasmas spontaneously generate coherent linearly polarised radiation (independently of the electron/positron ratio), in a wide range of parameters, via the electron cyclotron maser instability, with radiative losses altering the saturation of this instability. This enables the plasma to continously amplify coherent radiation for significantly longer durations of time. These findings highlight fundamental differences in the behaviour of relativistic plasmas in strongly magnetized environments and align with astronomical phenomena, such as pulsar emission and Fast Radio Bursts.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_18955
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Radiative cooling induced coherent maser emission in relativistic plasmas
Bilbao, Pablo J.
Silva, Thales
Silva, Luis O.
Plasma Physics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Relativistic plasmas in strong electromagnetic fields exhibit distinct properties compared to classical plasmas. In astrophysical environments, such as neutron stars, white dwarfs, AGNs, and shocks, relativistic plasmas are pervasive and are expected to play a crucial role in the dynamics of these systems. Despite their significance, both experimental and theoretical studies of such plasmas have been limited. Here, we present the first ab initio high-resolution kinetic simulations of relativistic plasmas undergoing synchrotron cooling in a highly magnetized medium. Our results demonstrate that these plasmas spontaneously generate coherent linearly polarised radiation (independently of the electron/positron ratio), in a wide range of parameters, via the electron cyclotron maser instability, with radiative losses altering the saturation of this instability. This enables the plasma to continously amplify coherent radiation for significantly longer durations of time. These findings highlight fundamental differences in the behaviour of relativistic plasmas in strongly magnetized environments and align with astronomical phenomena, such as pulsar emission and Fast Radio Bursts.
title Radiative cooling induced coherent maser emission in relativistic plasmas
topic Plasma Physics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.18955