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- Title
Observation of magnetic field generation via the Weibel instability in interpenetrating plasma flows.
- Authors
Huntington, C. M.; Fiuza, F.; Ross, J. S.; Zylstra, A. B.; Drake, R. P.; Froula, D. H.; Gregori, G.; Kugland, N. L.; Kuranz, C. C.; Levy, M. C.; Li, C. K.; Meinecke, J.; Morita, T.; Petrasso, R.; Plechaty, C.; Remington, B. A.; Ryutov, D. D.; Sakawa, Y.; Spitkovsky, A.; Takabe, H.
- Abstract
Collisionless shocks can be produced as a result of strong magnetic fields in a plasma flow, and therefore are common in many astrophysical systems. The Weibel instability is one candidate mechanism for the generation of sufficiently strong fields to create a collisionless shock. Despite their crucial role in astrophysical systems, observation of the magnetic fields produced by Weibel instabilities in experiments has been challenging. Using a proton probe to directly image electromagnetic fields, we present evidence of Weibel-generated magnetic fields that grow in opposing, initially unmagnetized plasma flows from laser-driven laboratory experiments. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations reveal that the instability efficiently extracts energy from the plasma flows, and that the self-generated magnetic energy reaches a few percent of the total energy in the system. This result demonstrates an experimental platform suitable for the investigation of a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, including collisionless shock formation in supernova remnants, large-scale magnetic field amplification, and the radiation signature from gamma-ray bursts.
- Subjects
MAGNETIC fields; PLASMA instabilities; COLLISIONLESS plasmas; ASTROPHYSICS; SUPERNOVA remnants; GAMMA ray bursts
- Publication
Nature Physics, 2015, Vol 11, Issue 2, p173
- ISSN
1745-2473
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/nphys3178