• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.52.2-52.2
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• 2020

At quasi-perpendicular shocks in the high-�� (��=Pgas/Pmag~100) intracluster medium (ICM), various microinstabilities occur by the temperature anisotropies and/or drift motions of plasma. In the downstream, the Alfvén ion cyclotron instability (AIC) due to the ion temperature anisotropy (Ti⊥>Ti║) is triggered by shock-reflected ions, the whistler instability (WI) is driven by the electron temperature anisotropy (Te⊥>Te║) as a consequence of the shock compression of magnetic fields, and the mirror instability is generated due to the ion and/or electron temperature anisotropy. At the shock foot, the modified two stream instability (MTSI) is possibly excited by the cross-field drift between ions and electrons. In the upstream, electron firehose instability (EFI) is driven by the electron temperature anisotropy or the relative drift between incoming and reflected electrons. These microinstabilities play important roles in the particle acceleration in ICM shocks, so understanding of the microinstabilities and the resultant plasma waves is essential. In this study, based on a linear stability analysis, the basic properties of the microinstabilities in ICM shocks and the ion/electron scale fluctuations are described. We then discuss the implication of our work on the electron pre-acceleration in ICM shocks.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2015

We have developed a 2.5-dimensional electromagnetic particle simulation code using the particle-in-cell (PIC) method to investigate electromagnetic phenomena that occur in space plasmas. Our code is based on the leap-frog method and the centered difference method for integration and differentiation of the governing equations. We adopted the relativistic Buneman-Boris method to solve the Lorentz force equation and the Esirkepov method to calculate the current density while maintaining charge conservation. Using the developed code, we performed test simulations for electron two-stream instability and electron temperature anisotropy induced instability with the same initial parameters as used in previously reported studies. The test simulation results are almost identical with those of the previous papers.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.55.2-55.2
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• 2020

Radio relics in the outskirts of galaxy clusters are interpreted as synchrotron radiation due to the relativistic electrons produced via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in shocks with low sonic Mach numbers, Ms ≤ 3 in high beta ICM plasma. Electron injection into the DSA process at such weak shocks is one of the key elements, which has yet to be fully understood. In this study, we explore the nature of kinetic microinstabilities excited in weak quasi-perpendicular shocks through 2D particle-in-cell simulations. We find Alfven-ion cyclotron (AIC), whistler, and mirror instabilities can be triggered by ion and electron temperature anisotropy in the immediate downstream of supercritical shocks with Ms > Mcrit ~ 2.3. In particular, AIC instability causes rippling of the shock surface, which in turn generates plasma waves on multi-scales and faciliates the electron preacceleration. Our results may contribute to understanding the origins of radio relics.