TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kobzar, Oleh
A1  - Niemiec, Jacek
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Bohdan, Artem
T1  - Spatio-temporal evolution of the non-resonant instability in shock precursors of young supernova remnants
T2  - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - A non-resonant cosmic ray (CR) current-driven instability may operate in the shock precursors of young supernova remnants and be responsible for magnetic-field amplification, plasma heating and turbulence. Earlier simulations demonstrated magnetic-field amplification, and in kinetic studies a reduction of the relative drift between CRs and thermal plasma was observed as backreaction. However, all published simulations used periodic boundary conditions, which do not account for mass conservation in decelerating flows and only allow the temporal development to be studied. Here we report results of fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations with open boundaries that permit inflow of plasma on one side of the simulation box and outflow at the other end, hence allowing an investigation of both the temporal and the spatial development of the instability. Magnetic-field amplification proceeds as in studies with periodic boundaries and, observed here for the first time, the reduction of relative drifts causes the formation of a shock-like compression structure at which a fraction of the plasma ions are reflected. Turbulent electric field generated by the non-resonant instability inelastically scatters CRs, modifying and anisotropizing their energy distribution. Spatial CR scattering is compatible with Bohm diffusion. Electromagnetic turbulence leads to significant non-adiabatic heating of the background plasma maintaining bulk equipartition between ions and electrons. The highest temperatures are reached at sites of large-amplitude electrostatic fields. Ion spectra show supra-thermal tails resulting from stochastic scattering in the turbulent electric field. Together, these modifications in the plasma flow will affect the properties of the shock and particle acceleration there.
KW  - acceleration of particles
KW  - shock waves
KW  - turbulence
KW  - methods: numerical
KW  - cosmic rays
KW  - ISM: supernova remnants
Y1  - 2017
UR  - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/46479
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
VL  - 469
SP  - 4985
EP  - 4998
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  -