Collisionless Shocks Driven by Supersonic Plasma Flows with Self-Generated Magnetic Fields

C. K. Li, V. T. Tikhonchuk, Q. Moreno, H. Sio, E. D’Humières, X. Ribeyre, Ph. Korneev, S. Atzeni, R. Betti, A. Birkel, E. M. Campbell, R. K. Follett, J. A. Frenje, S. X. Hu, M. Koenig, Y. Sakawa, T. C. Sangster, F. H. Seguin, H. Takabe, S. Zhang, and R. D. Petrasso

Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 055002 – Published 29 July 2019

Abstract

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe as a consequence of supersonic plasma flows sweeping through interstellar and intergalactic media. These shocks are the cause of many observed astrophysical phenomena, but details of shock structure and behavior remain controversial because of the lack of ways to study them experimentally. Laboratory experiments reported here, with astrophysically relevant plasma parameters, demonstrate for the first time the formation of a quasiperpendicular magnetized collisionless shock. In the upstream it is fringed by a filamented turbulent region, a rudiment for a secondary Weibel-driven shock. This turbulent structure is found responsible for electron acceleration to energies exceeding the average energy by two orders of magnitude.

Received 9 April 2019
Revised 7 June 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.055002

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Collisionless shock in plasma Laboratory studies of space & astrophysical plasmas Particle acceleration in plasmas Plasma instabilities Plasma turbulence

Plasma Physics

Authors & Affiliations

C. K. Li^1,*, V. T. Tikhonchuk^2,3,†, Q. Moreno^2,3, H. Sio¹, E. D’Humières², X. Ribeyre², Ph. Korneev^4,5, S. Atzeni⁶, R. Betti⁷, A. Birkel¹, E. M. Campbell⁷, R. K. Follett⁷, J. A. Frenje¹, S. X. Hu⁷, M. Koenig⁸, Y. Sakawa⁹, T. C. Sangster⁷, F. H. Seguin¹, H. Takabe⁹, S. Zhang¹⁰, and R. D. Petrasso¹

¹Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
²Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, 33405 Talence, France
³ELI-Beamlines, Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 25241 Dolní Břežany, Czech Republic
⁴National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, 115409 Moscow, Russian Federation
⁵P. N. Lebedev Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russian Federation
⁶Dipartimento SBAI, Università di Roma “La Sapienza,” I-00161 Roma, Italy
⁷Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA
⁸Laboratorire pour l’Utilisation de Lasers Intenses, CNRS CEA, Université Paris VI, École Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, France
⁹Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
¹⁰University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA