Extreme ion acceleration at extragalactic jet termination shocks

TL;DR

This study uses advanced simulations to show that extragalactic plasma jets can accelerate particles to ultra-high energies at termination shocks, involving complex magnetic and velocity shear structures.

Contribution

It demonstrates that considering the global transverse structure of jets reveals efficient particle acceleration mechanisms at termination shocks, beyond local uniform field models.

Findings

Particles are accelerated up to the confinement limit at the shock.

Magnetic field structure induces velocity shear and vortex streets.

Efficient acceleration occurs at shear flow boundary crossings.

Abstract

Extragalactic plasma jets are some of the few astrophysical environments able to confine ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, but whether they are capable of accelerating these particles is unknown. In this work, we revisit particle acceleration at relativistic magnetized shocks beyond the local uniform field approximation, by considering the global transverse structure of the jet. Using large two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of a relativistic electron-ion plasma jet, we show that the termination shock forming at the interface with the ambient medium accelerates particles up to the confinement limit. The radial structure of the jet magnetic field leads to a relativistic velocity shear that excites a von K\'arm\'an vortex street in the downstream medium trailing behind an over-pressured bubble filled with cosmic rays. Particles are efficiently accelerated at each crossing of the shear flow boundary layers. These findings support the idea that extragalactic plasma jets may be capable of producing ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. This extreme particle acceleration mechanism may also apply to microquasar jets.