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Title: Magnetic field production via the Weibel instability in interpenetrating plasma flows

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4982044· OSTI ID:1357407
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [4]; ORCiD logo [1];  [5];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [3]; ORCiD logo [6];  [7];  [5]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [8]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  4. Univ. of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom)
  5. Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States)
  6. Osaka Univ., Osaka (Japan)
  7. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  8. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Here, many astrophysical systems are effectively “collisionless,” that is, the mean free path for collisions between particles is much longer than the size of the system. The absence of particle collisions does not preclude shock formation, however, as shocks can be the result of plasma instabilities that generate and amplify electromagnetic fields. The magnetic fields required for shock formation may either be initially present, for example, in supernova remnants or young galaxies, or they may be self-generated in systems such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In the case of GRB outflows, the Weibel instability is a candidate mechanism for the generation of sufficiently strong magnetic fields to produce shocks. In experiments on the OMEGA Laser, we have demonstrated a quasi-collisionless system that is optimized for the study of the non-linear phase of Weibel instability growth. Using a proton probe to directly image electromagnetic fields, we measure Weibel-generated magnetic fields that grow in opposing, initially unmagnetized plasma flows. The collisionality of the system is determined from coherent Thomson scattering measurements, and the data are compared to similar measurements of a fully collisionless system. The strong, persistent Weibel growth observed here serves as a diagnostic for exploring large-scale magnetic field amplification and the microphysics present in the collisional–collisionless transition.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; 15-ERD-065
OSTI ID:
1357407
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1361845
Report Number(s):
LLNL-PROC-717204; PHPAEN
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 4; Conference: High Energy Density Laboratory Astrophysics, Palo Alto, CA (United States), 16-21 May 2016; ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 20 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Kinetic instability of electrostatic ion cyclotron waves in inter-penetrating plasmas journal May 2018
Observation of collisionless-to-collisional transition in colliding plasma jets with optical Thomson scattering journal January 2019
Characterizing filamentary magnetic structures in counter-streaming plasmas by Fourier analysis of proton images journal October 2019
Primordial Plasma Fuctuations. I. Magnetization of the Early Universe by Dark Aperiodic Fluctuations in the Past Myon and Prior Electron–Positron Annihilation Epoch journal April 2018
Precursor Wave Emission Enhanced by Weibel Instability in Relativistic Shocks journal May 2018
Evolution of Three-dimensional Relativistic Ion Weibel Instability: Competition with Kink Instability journal June 2019
Characterizing filamentary magnetic structures in counter-streaming plasmas by Fourier analysis of proton images text January 2019