We investigate the brightest regions of the kpc-scale jet in the powerful radio galaxy 3C 346, using new optical HST ACS/F606W polarimetry together with Chandra X-ray data and 14.9 GHz and 22.5 GHz VLA radio polarimetry. The jet shows a close correspondence in optical and radio morphology, while the X-ray emission shows an 0.80 +/- 0.17 kpc offset from the optical and radio peak positions. Optical and radio polarimetry show the same apparent magnetic field position angle and fractional polarization at the brightest knot, where the jet undergoes a large kink of almost 70 degrees in the optical and radio images. The apparent field direction here is well-aligned with the new jet direction, as predicted by earlier work that suggested the kink was the result of an oblique shock. We have explored models of the polarization from oblique shocks to understand the geometry of the 3C 346 jet, and find that the upstream flow is likely to be highly relativistic (0.91 +0.05 / -0.07 c), where the plane of the shock front is inclined at an angle of 51 (+/- 11) degrees to the upstream flow which is at an angle 14 (+8 / -7) degrees to our line of sight. The actual deflection angle of the jet in this case is only 22 degrees.
The non-thermal acceleration of electrons and ions at an oblique, non-relativistic shock is studied using large scale particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in one spatial dimension. Physical parameters are selected to highlight the role of electron pre-heating in injection and subsequent acceleration of particles at high Mach number shocks. Simulation results show evidence for the early onset of the diffusive shock acceleration process for both electrons and ions at a highly oblique subluminal shock. Ion acceleration efficiencies of $\lesssim 5\%$ are measured at late times, though this is not th…
Relativistic magnetohydrodynamic shocks are efficient particle accelerators, often invoked in the models of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and shock-powered fast radio bursts (FRBs). Most theoretical studies assume a perpendicular shock with an ordered magnetic field perpendicular to the shock normal. However, the degree of magnetization $σ$ and the magnetic field geometry in shock-powered GRB/FRB scenarios are still poorly constrained by observations. Analogous to the magnetization $σ$ associated with the total field strength, we define a tangential magnetization $σ_\perp$ associated with the tangen…
The current paradigm of cosmic ray (CR) origin states that the most part of galactic CRs is produced by supernova remnants. The interaction of supernova ejecta with the interstellar medium after supernova's explosions results in shocks responsible for CR acceleration via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). We use particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and a combined PIC-magnetohydrodynamic (PIC-MHD) technique to investigate whether DSA can occur in oblique high Mach number shocks. Using the PIC method, we follow the formation of the shock and determine the fraction of the particles that gets invol…
Relativistic Oblique Shocks at Finite Temperature: Detachment Angle, Shock Polars, and the Turning Parameter
Indian Institute of Technology Indore（印度理工学院印多尔分校）；Indian Institute of Astrophysics（印度天体物理研究所）；Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal（印度科学教育研究学院博帕尔分校）
Hybrid Simulations of Proton Acceleration at Oblique High-$β$ Shocks
The University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）；Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago（恩里科·费米研究所，芝加哥大学）；Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）
Oblique Shocks at Supernova Remnants in Massive Star Clusters: A Model for the Cosmic-Ray Knee Observed by LHAASO
Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL)（隆德里纳州立大学）；INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿切特里天文台）；Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR)（巴拉那联邦大学）；Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES)（圣埃斯皮里图联邦大学）；Universidade Tecnológica do Paraná (UTFPR)（巴拉那技术大学）；Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA)（拉丁美洲一体化联邦大学）
In the Universe matter outside of stars and compact objects is mostly composed of collisionless plasma. The interaction of a supersonic plasma flow with an obstacle results in collisionless shocks that are often associated with intense nonthermal radiation and the production of cosmic ray particles. Motivated by simulations of non-relativistic high-Mach-number shocks in supernova remnants, we investigate the instabilities excited by relativistic electron beams in the extended foreshock of oblique shocks. The phase-space distributions in the inner and outer foreshock regions are derived with a …
During the early stages of an impact a small amount material may be jetted and ejected at speeds exceeding the impact velocity. Jetting is an important process for producing melt during relatively low velocity impacts. How impact angle affects the jetting process has yet to be fully understood. Here, we simulate jetting during oblique impacts using the iSALE shock physics code. Assuming both the target and impactor have the same composition (dunite), we examine the jetted material which exceeds the impact velocity. Our results show that oblique impacts always produce more jetted ejecta than ve…
We investigate shock acceleration in a realistic astrophysical environment with density inhomogeneities. The turbulence induced by the interaction of the shock precursor with upstream density fluctuations amplifies both upstream and downstream magnetic fields via the turbulent dynamo. The dynamo-amplified turbulent magnetic fields (a) introduce variations of shock obliquities along the shock face, (b) enable energy gain through a combination of shock drift and diffusive processes, (c) give rise to various spectral indices of accelerated particles, (d) regulate the diffusion of particles both p…
Examining energization of kinetic plasmas in phase space is a growing topic of interest, owing to the wealth of data in phase space compared to traditional bulk energization diagnostics. Via the field-particle correlation (FPC) technique and using multiple means of numerically integrating the plasma kinetic equation, we have studied the energization of ions in phase space within oblique collisionless shocks. The perspective afforded to us with this analysis in phase space allows us to characterize distinct populations of energized ions. In particular, we focus on ions which reflect multiple ti…
PIC simulations of nonrelativistic high-Mach-number oblique shocks propagating in a turbulent medium
University of Wisconsin-Madison（威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校）；University of Potsdam（波茨坦大学）；Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步辐射中心）；Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences（捷克科学院物理研究所）；Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik（马克斯·普朗克等离子体物理研究所）；The University of Tokyo（东京大学）
Thermal electrons have gyroradii many orders of magnitude smaller than the finite width of a shock, thus need to be pre-accelerated before they can cross it and be accelerated by diffusive shock acceleration. One region where pre-acceleration may occur is the inner foreshock, which upstream electrons must pass through before any potential downstream crossing. In this paper, we perform a large scale particle-in-cell simulation that generates a single shock with parameters motivated from supernova remnants. Within the foreshock, reflected electrons excite the oblique whistler instability and pro…
A theory of electron injection into diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) for the generation of cosmic-ray electrons at collisionless shocks is presented. We consider a recently proposed particle acceleration mechanism called stochastic shock drift acceleration (SSDA). We find that SSDA may be understood as a diffusive particle acceleration mechanism at an oblique shock of finite thickness. More specifically, it is described by a solution to the diffusion-convection equation for particles with the characteristic diffusion length comparable to the shock thickness. On the other hand, the same equat…
Shockwaves in plasma are usually dealt with using Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Yet, MHD entails the assumption of a short mean free path, which is not fulfilled in a collisionless plasma. Recently, for pair plasmas, we devised a model allowing to account for kinetic effects within an MHD-like formalism. Its relies on an estimate of the anisotropy generated when crossing the front, with a subsequent assessment of the stability of this anisotropy in the downstream. We solved our model for parallel, perpendicular and switch-on shocks. Here we bridge between all these cases by treating the problem …
Oblique Collision of a Relativistic Cold Shell with an Ideal Reflecting Wall
The Open University of Israel（以色列开放大学）；The George Washington University（乔治华盛顿大学）；CNRS – Université Paris Cité（法国国家科学研究中心-巴黎西岱大学）；Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University（贝拿勒斯印度教大学理工学院）
The formation mechanism of the W50/SS433 complex has long been a mystery. We propose a new scenario in which the SS433 jets themselves form the W50/SS433 system. We carry out magnetohydrodynamics simulations of two-side jet propagation using the public code CANS+. As found in previous jet studies, when the propagating jet is lighter than the surrounding medium, the shocked plasma flows back from the jet tip to the core. We find that the morphology of light jets is spheroidal at early times, and afterward, the shell and wings are developed by the broadening spherical cocoon. The morphology stro…
We perform GRMHD and RMHD simulations of weakly and highly magnetized gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets propagating in binary neutron star (BNS) merger ejecta. Using the simulations, we first find that mixing between the jet and cocoon, which is present in all types of jets, inhibits the formation of subphotospheric collisionless shocks. However, we show that a mild magnetization may lead to the formation of collisionless subshocks which allow efficient proton acceleration. We consider shear acceleration and diffusive shock acceleration at collimation shocks, internal shocks, shock breakout, and exte…
Aims. We wish to establish a firm link between jet simulations and analytical studies of magnetically-driven steady-state jets from Keplerian accretion disks. In particular, the latter have predicted the existence of recollimation shocks due to the dominant hoop-stress, so far never observed in platform simulations. Methods. We perform a set of axisymmetric MHD simulations of non-relativistic jets using the PLUTO code. The simulations are designed to reproduce the boundary conditions generally expected in analytical studies. We vary two parameters: the magnetic flux radial exponent $α$ and the…
Resolving Oblique Star-Disk Collisions in Quasi-Periodic Eruptions: Numerical Requirements and the Importance of Geometry
University of Nevada, Las Vegas（内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校）；Nevada Center for Astrophysics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas（内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校内华达天体物理中心）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）
To undergo diffusive shock acceleration, electrons need to be pre-accelerated to increase their energies by several orders of magnitude, else their gyro-radii are smaller than the finite width of the shock. In oblique shocks, where the upstream magnetic field orientation is neither parallel or perpendicular to the shock normal, electrons can escape to the shock upstream, modifying the shock foot to a region called the electron foreshock. To determine the pre-acceleration in this region, we undertake PIC simulations of oblique shocks while varying the obliquity and in-plane angles. We show that…
