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Investigating particle acceleration dynamics in interpenetrating magnetized collisionless super-critical shocks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2023

W. Yao*
Affiliation:
LULI – CNRS, CEA, UPMC Univ Paris 06 : Sorbonne Université, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, F-91128, Palaiseau cedex, France Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, LERMA, F-75005 Paris, France
A. Fazzini
Affiliation:
LULI – CNRS, CEA, UPMC Univ Paris 06 : Sorbonne Université, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, F-91128, Palaiseau cedex, France
S.N. Chen
Affiliation:
‘Horia Hulubei’ National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, RO-077125 Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
K. Burdonov
Affiliation:
LULI – CNRS, CEA, UPMC Univ Paris 06 : Sorbonne Université, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, F-91128, Palaiseau cedex, France Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, LERMA, F-75005 Paris, France JIHT, Russian Academy of Sciences, 125412 Moscow, Russia
J. Béard
Affiliation:
LNCMI-T, CNRS, Toulouse, France
M. Borghesi
Affiliation:
Centre for Plasma Physics, The Queen's University of Belfast, University Road, BT71NN Belfast, UK
A. Ciardi
Affiliation:
Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, LERMA, F-75005 Paris, France
M. Miceli
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica E. Segrè, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90134 Palermo, Italy INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, 90134 Palermo, Italy
S. Orlando
Affiliation:
INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, 90134 Palermo, Italy
X. Ribeyre
Affiliation:
University of Bordeaux, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, CNRS, CEA, UMR 5107, F-33405 Talence, France
E. d'Humières
Affiliation:
University of Bordeaux, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, CNRS, CEA, UMR 5107, F-33405 Talence, France
J. Fuchs
Affiliation:
LULI – CNRS, CEA, UPMC Univ Paris 06 : Sorbonne Université, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, F-91128, Palaiseau cedex, France
*
Email address for correspondence: yao.weipeng@polytechnique.edu

Abstract

Colliding collisionless shocks appear in a great variety of astrophysical phenomena and are thought to be possible sources of particle acceleration in the Universe. We have previously investigated particle acceleration induced by single super-critical shocks (whose magnetosonic Mach number is higher than the critical value of 2.7) (Yao et al., Nat. Phys., vol. 17, issue 10, 2021, pp. 1177–1182; Yao et al., Matter Radiat. Extrem., vol. 7, issue 1, 2022, 014402), as well as the collision of two sub-critical shocks (Fazzini et al., Astron. Astrophys., vol. 665, 2022, A87). Here, we propose to make measurements of accelerated particles from interpenetrating super-critical shocks to observe the ‘phase-locking effect’ (Fazzini et al., Astron. Astrophys., vol. 665, 2022, A87) from such an event. This effect is predicted to significantly boost the energy spectrum of the energized ions compared with a single super-critical collisionless shock. We thus anticipate that the results obtained in the proposed experiment could have a significant impact on our understanding of one type of primary source (acceleration of thermal ions as opposed to secondary acceleration mechanisms of already energetic ions) of ion energization of particles in the Universe.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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