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Register a new userInternal shocks in relativistic outflows: collisions of magnetized shells
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Petar Mimica
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(Abridged): We study the collision of magnetized irregularities (shells) in relativistic outflows in order to explain the origin of the generic phenomenology observed in the non-thermal emission of both blazars and gamma-ray bursts. We focus on the influence of the magnetic field on the collision dynamics, and we further investigate how the properties of the observed radiation depend on the strength of the initial magnetic field and on the initial internal energy density of the flow. The collisions of magnetized shells and the radiation resulting from these collisions are calculated using the 1D relativistic magnetohydrodynamics code MRGENESIS. The interaction of the shells with the external medium prior to their collision is also determined using an exact solver for the corresponding 1D relativistic magnetohydrodynamic Riemann problem. Our simulations show that two magnetization parameters - the ratio of magnetic energy density and thermal energy density, alpha_B, and the ratio of magnetic energy density and mass-energy density, sigma - play an important role in the pre-collision phase, while the dynamics of the collision and the properties of the light curves depend mostly on the magnetization parameter sigma. The interaction of the shells with the external medium changes the flow properties at their edges prior to the collision. For sufficiently dense shells moving at large Lorentz factors (simgt 25) these properties depend only on the magnetization parameter sigma. Internal shocks in GRBs may reach maximum efficiencies of conversion of kinetic into thermal energy between 6% and 10%, while in case of blazars, the maximum efficiencies are sim 2%.
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We have performed two-dimensional special-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of non-equilibrium over-pressured relativistic jets in cylindrical geometry. Multiple stationary recollimation shock and rarefaction structures are produced along the jet by the nonlinear interaction of shocks and rarefaction waves excited at the interface between the jet and the surrounding ambient medium. Although initially the jet is kinematically dominated, we have considered axial, toroidal and helical magnetic fields to investigate the effects of different magnetic-field topologies and strengths on the recollimation structures. We find that an axial field introduces a larger effective gas-pressure and leads to stronger recollimation shocks and rarefactions, resulting in larger flow variations. The jet boost grows quadratically with the initial magnetic field. On the other hand, a toroidal field leads to weaker recollimation shocks and rarefactions, modifying significantly the jet structure after the first recollimation rarefaction and shock. The jet boost decreases systematically. For a helical field, instead, the behaviour depends on the magnetic pitch, with a phenomenology that ranges between the one seen for axial and toroidal magnetic fields, respectively. In general, however, a helical magnetic field yields a more complex shock and rarefaction substructure close to the inlet that significantly modifies the jet structure. The differences in shock structure resulting from different field configurations and strengths may have observable consequences for disturbances propagating through a stationary recollimation shock.
The internal-shocks scenario in relativistic jets has been used to explain the variability of blazars outflow emission. Recent simulations have shown that the magnetic field alters the dynamics of these shocks producing a whole zoo of spectral energy density patterns. However, the role played by magnetization in such high-energy emission is still not entirely understood. With the aid of emph{Fermi}s second LAT AGN catalog, a comparison with observations in the $gamma$-ray band was performed, in order to identify the effects of the magnetic field.
Relativistic magnetized shocks are a natural source of coherent emission, offering a plausible radiative mechanism for Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). We present first-principles 3D simulations that provide essential information for the FRB models based on shocks: the emission efficiency, spectrum, and polarization. The simulated shock propagates in an $e^pm$ plasma with magnetization $sigma>1$. The measured fraction of shock energy converted to coherent radiation is $simeq 10^{-3} , sigma^{-1}$, and the energy-carrying wavenumber of the wave spectrum is $simeq 4 ,omega_{rm c}/c$, where $omega_{rm c}$ is the upstream gyrofrequency. The ratio of the O-mode and X-mode energy fluxes emitted by the shock is $simeq 0.4,sigma^{-1}$. The dominance of the X-mode at $sigmagg 1$ is particularly strong, approaching 100% in the spectral band around $2,omega_{rm c}$. We also provide a detailed description of the emission mechanism for both X- and O-modes.
The physics of instabilities in the precursor of relativistic collisionless shocks is of broad importance in high energy astrophysics, because these instabilities build up the shock, control the particle acceleration process and generate the magnetic fields in which the accelerated particles radiate. Two crucial parameters control the micro-physics of these shocks: the magnetization of the ambient medium and the Lorentz factor of the shock front; as of today, much of this parameter space remains to be explored. In the present paper, we report on a new instability upstream of electron-positron relativistic shocks and we argue that this instability shapes the micro-physics at moderate magnetization levels and/or large Lorentz factors. This instability is seeded by the electric current carried by the accelerated particles in the shock precursor as they gyrate around the background magnetic field. The compensation current induced in the background plasma leads to an unstable configuration, with the appearance of charge neutral filaments carrying a current of the same polarity, oriented along the perpendicular current. This ``current-driven filamentation instability grows faster than any other instability studied so far upstream of relativistic shocks, with a growth rate comparable to the plasma frequency. Furthermore, the compensation of the current is associated with a slow-down of the ambient plasma as it penetrates the shock precursor (as viewed in the shock rest frame). This slow-down of the plasma implies that the ``current driven filamentation instability can grow for any value of the shock Lorentz factor, provided the magnetization sigma <~ 10^{-2}. We argue that this instability explains the results of recent particle-in-cell simulations in the mildly magnetized regime.
The internal shocks scenario in relativistic jets is used to explain the variability of the blazar emission. Recent studies have shown that the magnetic field significantly alters the shell collision dynamics, producing a variety of spectral energy distributions and light-curves patterns. However, the role played by magnetization in such emission processes is still not entirely understood. In this work we numerically solve the magnetohydodynamic evolution of the magnetized shells collision, and determine the influence of the magnetization on the observed radiation. Our procedure consists in systematically varying the shell Lorentz factor, relative velocity, and viewing angle. The calculations needed to produce the whole broadband spectral energy distributions and light-curves are computationally expensive, and are achieved using a high-performance parallel code.
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