First-order particle acceleration in magnetically driven flows
- Naval Research Lab., Washington, D.C. (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
In this study, we demonstrate that particles are regularly accelerated while experiencing curvature drift in flows driven by magnetic tension. Some examples of such flows include spontaneous turbulent reconnection and decaying magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, where a magnetic field relaxes to a lower-energy configuration and transfers part of its energy to kinetic motions of the fluid. We show that this energy transfer, which normally causes turbulent cascade and heating of the fluid, also results in a first-order acceleration of non-thermal particles. Since it is generic, this acceleration mechanism is likely to play a role in the production of non-thermal particle distribution in magnetically dominant environments such as the solar chromosphere, pulsar magnetospheres, jets from supermassive black holes, and γ-ray bursts.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1296659
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-14-24412
- Journal Information:
- The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 819, Issue 2; ISSN 1538-4357
- Publisher:
- Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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