Magnetic field amplification and electron acceleration to near-energy equipartition with ions by a mildly relativistic quasi-parallel plasma protoshock

TL;DR

This study uses 2D relativistic PIC simulations to show how plasma cloud collisions in gamma-ray burst jets amplify magnetic fields and accelerate electrons to near-ion energies, revealing shock structures and energy equipartition.

Contribution

It demonstrates magnetic field amplification and electron acceleration mechanisms in relativistic plasma shocks with density asymmetry and quasi-parallel magnetic fields.

Findings

Magnetic field exceeds shock compression by over an order of magnitude.

Electron acceleration to relativistic energies occurs at the shock.

Energy equipartition achieved between ions, electrons, and magnetic fields.

Abstract

The prompt emissions of gamma-ray bursts are seeded by radiating ultrarelativistic electrons. Internal shocks propagating through a jet launched by a stellar implosion, are expected to amplify the magnetic field & accelerate electrons. We explore the effects of density asymmetry & a quasi-parallel magnetic field on the collision of plasma clouds. A 2D relativistic PIC simulation models the collision of two plasma clouds, in the presence of a quasi-parallel magnetic field. The cloud density ratio is 10. The densities of ions & electrons & the temperature of 131 keV are equal in each cloud. The mass ratio is 250. The peak Lorentz factor of the electrons is determined, along with the orientation & strength of the magnetic field at the cloud collision boundary. The magnetic field component orthogonal to the initial plasma flow direction is amplified to values that exceed those expected from shock compression by over an order of magnitude. The forming shock is quasi-perpendicular due to this amplification, caused by a current sheet which develops in response to the differing deflection of the incoming upstream electrons & ions. The electron deflection implies a charge separation of the upstream electrons & ions; the resulting electric field drags the electrons through the magnetic field, whereupon they acquire a relativistic mass comparable to the ions. We demonstrate how a magnetic field structure resembling the cross section of a flux tube grows in the current sheet of the shock transition layer. Plasma filamentation develops, as well as signatures of orthogonal magnetic field striping. Localized magnetic bubbles form. Energy equipartition between the ion, electron & magnetic energy is obtained at the shock transition layer. The electronic radiation can provide a seed photon population that can be energized by secondary processes (e.g. inverse Compton).