Production of Magnetic Turbulence by Cosmic Rays Drifting Upstream of Supernova Remnant Shocks

TL;DR

This study uses 2D and 3D PIC simulations to investigate magnetic turbulence generated by cosmic rays upstream of supernova remnant shocks, revealing oblique filamentary modes dominate and turbulence saturates at moderate amplitudes, affecting shock dynamics.

Contribution

First detailed PIC simulation analysis showing oblique filamentary modes dominate magnetic turbulence growth upstream of SNR shocks, with turbulence saturation at moderate amplitudes.

Findings

Oblique filamentary modes grow faster than parallel modes.

Turbulence amplitude saturates at about dB/B~1.

Backreaction aligns cosmic-ray and background velocities.

Abstract

We present results of 2D and 3D PIC simulations of magnetic turbulence production by isotropic cosmic-ray ions drifting upstream of SNR shocks. The studies aim at testing recent predictions of a strong amplification of short wavelength magnetic field and at studying the evolution of the magnetic turbulence and its backreaction on cosmic rays. We observe that an oblique filamentary mode grows more rapidly than the non-resonant parallel modes found in analytical theory, and the growth rate of the field perturbations is much slower than is estimated for the parallel plane-wave mode, possibly because in our simulations we cannot maintain omega << Omega_i, the ion gyrofrequency, to the degree required for the plane-wave mode to emerge. The evolved oblique filamentary mode was also observed in MHD simulations to dominate in the nonlinear phase. We thus confirm the generation of the turbulent magnetic field due to the drift of cosmic-ray ions in the upstream plasma, but as our main result find that the amplitude of the turbulence saturates at about dB/B~1. The backreaction of the turbulence on the particles leads to an alignment of the bulk-flow velocities of the cosmic rays and the background medium, which is an essential characteristic of cosmic-ray modified shocks. It accounts for the saturation of the instability at moderate field amplitudes. Previously published MHD simulations have assumed a constant cosmic-ray current and no energy or momentum flux in the cosmic rays, which excludes a backreaction of the generated magnetic field on cosmic rays, and thus the saturation of the field amplitude is artificially suppressed. This may explain the continued growth of the magnetic field in the MHD simulations. A strong magnetic field amplification to amplitudes dB >> B0 has not been demonstrated yet.