Observation of the growth of a magnetic vortex in the transition layer of a mildly relativistic oblique plasma shock

Abstract

A 2D particle simulation models the collision of two electron-ion plasma clouds along a quasi-parallel magnetic field. The collision speed is 0.9c and the density ratio 10. A current sheet forms at the front of the dense cloud, in which the electrons and the magnetic field reach energy equipartition with the ions. A structure composed of a solenoidal and a toroidal magnetic field grows in this sheet. It resembles that in the cross-section of the torus of a force-free spheromak, which may provide the coherent magnetic fields in gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets needed for their prompt emissions.

arXiv comment4 pages

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• The microphysics of collisionless shock waves
• Non-relativistic perpendicular shocks modeling young supernova remnants: nonstationary dynamics and particle acceleration at forward and reverse shocks
• Magnetic field amplification and electron acceleration to near-energy equipartition with ions by a mildly relativistic quasi-parallel plasma protoshock