@article{VafinRafighiPohletal.2018,
  author    = {Vafin, Sergei and Rafighi, Iman and Pohl, Martin and Niemiec, Jacek},
  title     = {The Electrostatic Instability for Realistic Pair Distributions in Blazar/EBL Cascades},
  series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics},
  volume    = {857},
  journal   = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.},
  address   = {Bristol},
  issn      = {0004-637X},
  doi       = {10.3847/1538-4357/aab552},
  pages     = {12},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {This work revisits the electrostatic instability for blazar-induced pair beams propagating through the intergalactic medium (IGM) using linear analysis and PIC simulations. We study the impact of the realistic distribution function of pairs resulting from the interaction of high-energy gamma-rays with the extragalactic background light. We present analytical and numerical calculations of the linear growth rate of the instability for the arbitrary orientation of wave vectors. Our results explicitly demonstrate that the finite angular spread of the beam dramatically affects the growth rate of the waves, leading to the fastest growth for wave vectors quasi-parallel to the beam direction and a growth rate at oblique directions that is only a factor of 2-4 smaller compared to the maximum. To study the nonlinear beam relaxation, we performed PIC simulations that take into account a realistic wide-energy distribution of beam particles. The parameters of the simulated beam-plasma system provide an adequate physical picture that can be extrapolated to realistic blazar-induced pairs. In our simulations, the beam looses only 1\% of its energy, and we analytically estimate that the beam would lose its total energy over about 100 simulation times. An analytical scaling is then used to extrapolate the parameters of realistic blazar-induced pair beams. We find that they can dissipate their energy slightly faster by the electrostatic instability than through inverse-Compton scattering. The uncertainties arising from, e.g., details of the primary gamma-ray spectrum are too large to make firm statements for individual blazars, and an analysis based on their specific properties is required.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Rafighi2018,
  author    = {Rafighi, Iman},
  title     = {Plasma Instabilities from blazar-induced pair beams propagating through IGM},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-417428},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {ix, 114},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Modern gamma-ray telescopes, provide the main stream of data for astrophysicists in quest of detecting the sources of gamma rays such as active galactic nuclei (AGN). Many blazars have been detected with gamma-ray telescopes such as HESS, VERITAS, MAGIC and Fermi satellite as sources of gamma-rays with the energy E ≥ 100 GeV. These very-high-energy photons interact with extragalactic background light (EBL) producing ultra-relativistic electron-positron pairs. Observations with Fermi-LAT indicate that the GeV gamma-ray flux from some blazars is lower than that predicted from the full electromagnetic cascade. The pairs can induce electrostatic and electromagnetic instabilities. In this case, wave-particle interactions can reduce the energy of the pairs. Therefore, the collective plasma effects can also substantially suppress the GeV-band gamma-ray emission affecting as well the IGMF constraints. Using Particle in cell (PIC) simulations, we have revisited the issue of plasma instabilities induced by electron-positron beams in the fully ionized intergalactic medium. This problem is related to pair beams produced by TeV radiation of blazars. The main objective of our study is to clarify the feedback of the beam-driven instabilities on the pairs. The present dissertation provides new results regarding the plasma instabilities from blazar induced pair beams interacting with intergalactic medium. This clarifies the relevance of plasma instabilities and improves our understanding of blazars.},
  language  = {en}
}