Physics of relativistic collisionless shocks: III The suprathermal particles

Abstract

In this third paper of a series, we discuss the physics of the population of accelerated particles in the precursor of an unmagnetized, relativistic collisionless pair shock. In particular, we provide a theoretical estimate of their scattering length $l_{scatt}(p)$ in the self-generated electromagnetic turbulence, as well as an estimate of their distribution function. We obtain $l_{scatt}(p)\simeq ({\gamma }_p/{\epsilon }_B)(p/{\gamma }_{\infty }mc{)}^2(c/{\omega }_p)$, with p the particle momentum in the rest frame of the shock front, ${\epsilon }_B$ the strength parameter of the microturbulence, ${\gamma }_p$ the Lorentz factor of the background plasma relative to the shock front and ${\gamma }_{\infty }$ its asymptotic value outside the precursor. We compare this scattering length to large-scale PIC simulations and find good agreement for the various dependencies.

arXiv commentPhys. Rev. E, submitted; 13 pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (12)

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• Electron-proton co-acceleration on relativistic shocks in extreme-TeV blazars
• Physics and phenomenology of weakly magnetized, relativistic astrophysical shock waves
• Long-term Evolution of Relativistic Unmagnetized Collisionless Shocks
• Physics of relativistic collisionless shocks: II Dynamics of the background plasma
• Weibel-Mediated Shocks Propagating into Inhomogeneous Electron-Positron Plasmas
• Origin of intense electron heating in relativistic blast waves
• Flux variability from ejectas in structured relativistic jets with large-scale magnetic fields
• Saturation of the asymmetric current filamentation instability under conditions relevant to relativistic shock precursors
• Maximally-hard spectra from diffusive shock-acceleration in pulsar-wind nebulae
• Particle acceleration and magnetic field amplification by relativistic shocks in inhomogeneous media
• Fermi acceleration in relativistic collisionless plasma shocks correlates with anisotropic energy gains