Electron acceleration in a nonrelativistic shock with very high Alfvén Mach number

Abstract

Electron acceleration associated with various plasma kinetic instabilities in a nonrelativistic, very-high-Alfvén Mach-number ($M_A\sim 45$) shock is revealed by means of a two-dimensional fully kinetic PIC simulation. Electromagnetic (ion Weibel) and electrostatic (ion-acoustic and Buneman) instabilities are strongly activated at the same time in different regions of the two-dimensional shock structure. Relativistic electrons are quickly produced predominantly by the shock surfing mechanism with the Buneman instability at the leading edge of the foot. The energy spectrum has a high-energy tail exceeding the upstream ion kinetic energy accompanying the main thermal population. This gives a favorable condition for the ion acoustic instability at the shock front, which in turn results in additional energization. The large-amplitude ion Weibel instability generates current sheets in the foot, implying another dissipation mechanism via magnetic reconnection in a three-dimensional shock structure in the very-high-$M_A$ regime.

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