Electron acceleration in non-relativistic quasi-perpendicular collisionless shocks

Abstract

We study diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) of electrons in non-relativistic quasi-perpendicular shocks using self-consistent one-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. By exploring the parameter space of sonic and Alfvénic Mach numbers we find that high Mach number quasi-perpendicular shocks can efficiently accelerate electrons to power-law downstream spectra with slopes consistent with DSA prediction. Electrons are reflected by magnetic mirroring at the shock and drive non-resonant waves in the upstream. Reflected electrons are trapped between the shock front and upstream waves and undergo multiple cycles of shock drift acceleration before the injection into DSA. Strong current-driven waves also temporarily change the shock obliquity and cause mild proton pre-acceleration even in quasi-perpendicular shocks, which otherwise do not accelerate protons. These results can be used to understand nonthermal emission in supernova remnants and intracluster medium in galaxy clusters.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJL

References in corpus (27)

• Shocks and cold fronts in galaxy clusters
• Cosmic rays in galaxy clusters and their non-thermal emission
• Simulations of Ion Acceleration at Non-relativistic Shocks. I. Acceleration Efficiency
• Particle Acceleration in Relativistic Magnetized Collisionless Electron-Ion Shocks
• Particle Acceleration on Megaparsec Scales in a Merging Galaxy Cluster
• On the structure of relativistic collisionless shocks in electron-ion plasmas
• Simultaneous Acceleration of Protons and Electrons at Nonrelativistic Quasiparallel Collisionless Shocks
• Search for cosmic-ray induced gamma-ray emission in Galaxy Clusters
• Simulations and Theory of Ion Injection at Non-relativistic Collisionless Shocks
• Non-Thermal Electron Acceleration in Low Mach Number Collisionless Shocks. I. Particle Energy Spectra and Acceleration Mechanism
• On the Radio Polarization Signature of Efficient and Inefficient Particle Acceleration in Supernova Remnant SN 1006
• Non-Thermal Electron Acceleration in Low Mach Number Collisionless Shocks. II. Firehose-Mediated Fermi Acceleration and its Dependence on Pre-Shock Conditions
• Kinetic simulations of mildly relativistic shocks I: particle acceleration in high Mach number shocks
• Electron Shock Surfing Acceleration in Multidimensions: Two-dimensional Particle-In-Cell Simulation of Collisionless Perpendicular Shock
• Electron Surfing and Drift Accelerations in a Weibel-dominated High-Mach-number Shock
• Theory of Stochastic Shock Drift Acceleration for Electrons in the Shock Transition Region
• Diffusive Shock Re-Acceleration
• Quasiperpendicular high Mach number Shocks
• Electron Accelerations at High Mach Number Shocks: Two-Dimensional Particle-In-Cell Simulations in Various Parameter Regimes
• Clarifying the solar wind heat-flux instabilities
• Electron Pre-Acceleration at Nonrelativistic High-Mach-Number Perpendicular Shocks
• Particle-in-cell simulations of particle energization via shock drift acceleration from low Mach number quasi-perpendicular shocks in solar flares
• Shocks in nova outflows. II. Synchrotron radio emission
• Particle acceleration and wave excitation in quasi-parallel high-Mach-number collisionless shocks: Particle-in-cell simulation
• An in situ comparison of electron acceleration at collisionless shocks under differing upstream magnetic field orientations
• Electron Firehose Instabilities in High-$\beta$ ICM shocks
• Energy Loss of High-Energy Particles in Particle-in-Cell Simulation

Cited by in corpus (41)

• Discovery of Magnetic Fields Along Stacked Cosmic Filaments as Revealed by Radio and X-Ray Emission
• Probing Cosmic Ray Transport with Radio Synchrotron Harps in the Galactic Center
• A radio-emitting outflow produced by the tidal disruption event AT2020vwl
• Simulating the transport of relativistic electrons and magnetic fields injected by radio galaxies in the intracluster medium
• Thermal Electrons in Mildly-relativistic Synchrotron Blast-waves
• Kinetic simulations of nonrelativistic perpendicular shocks of young supernova remnants. III. Magnetic reconnection
• New constraints on the magnetic field in filaments of the cosmic web
• Polarized accretion shocks from the cosmic web
• Evolution and observational signatures of the cosmic ray electron spectrum in SN 1006
• Non-thermal particle acceleration at highly oblique non-relativistic shocks
• Radio relics radio emission from multi-shock scenario
• Particle acceleration and non-thermal emission in colliding-wind binary systems
• Life cycle of cosmic-ray electrons in the intracluster medium
• A Field-Particle Correlation Analysis of a Perpendicular Magnetized Collisionless Shock
• Non-linear diffusive shock acceleration: A recipe for injection of electrons
• Quasi-adiabatic and stochastic heating and particle acceleration at quasi-perpendicular shocks
• Lepton-driven Non-resonant Streaming Instability
• Pre-acceleration in the Electron Foreshock I: Electron Acoustic Waves
• Electron acceleration at supernova remnants
• New high-frequency radio observations of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant with the Italian radio telescopes
• The evolution of cosmic ray electrons in the cosmic web: seeding by AGN, star formation and shocks
• Hadronic versus leptonic origin of gamma-ray emission from supernova remnants
• Phase Space Energization of Ions in Oblique Shocks
• Kinetic simulations of electron pre-energization by magnetized collisionless shocks in expanding laboratory plasmas
• Radio emission from tidal disruption events produced by the collision between super-Eddington outflows and the circumnuclear medium
• Pre-acceleration in the Electron Foreshock II: Oblique Whistler Waves
• Diffusive shock acceleration at oblique high Mach number shocks
• Local acceleration of protons to 100 keV in a quasi-parallel bow shock
• Stellar-wind feedback and magnetic fields around young compact star clusters: 3D MHD simulations
• Filamentary Baryons and Where to Find Them: A forecast of synchrotron radiation from merger and accretion shocks in the local Cosmic Web
• Criteria for ion acceleration in laboratory magnetized quasi-perpendicular collisionless shocks: when are 2D simulations enough?
• Prospects for Observing Astrophysical Transients with GeV Neutrinos
• SLAMS-Propelled Electron Acceleration at High-Mach Number Astrophysical Shocks
• Kinetic Simulation on Electron, Proton and Helium Acceleration in a Nonrelativistic Quasiparallel shock
• Hadronic acceleration in the young star cluster NGC 6611 inside the M16 region unveiled by Fermi-LAT: constraints on the acceleration efficiency
• Energy Dissipation in Strong Collisionless Shocks: The Crucial Role of Ion-to-Electron Scale Separation in Particle-in-Cell Simulations
• Particle In Cell Simulations of Mildly Relativistic Outflows in Kilonova Emissions
• Non-resonant Streaming Instability driven by Leptons
• The structure of cluster merger shocks: turbulent width and the electron heating timescale
• The electron foreshock at high-Mach-number nonrelativistic oblique shocks
• The mechanism of efficient electron acceleration at parallel non-relativistic shocks