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e(sup +/-) Pair Loading and the Origin of the Upstream Magnetic Field in GRB ShocksWe investigate here the effects of plasma instabilities driven by rapid e(sup +/-) pair cascades, which arise in the environment of GRB sources as a result of back-scattering of a seed fraction of their original spectrum. The injection of e(sup +/-) pairs induces strong streaming motions in the ambient medium. One therefore expects the pair-enriched medium ahead of the forward shock to be strongly sheared on length scales comparable to the radiation front thickness. Using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show that plasma instabilities driven by these streaming e(sup +/-) pairs are responsible for the excitation of near-equipartition, turbulent magnetic fields. Our results reveal the importance of the electromagnetic filamentation instability in ensuring an effective coupling between e(sup +/-) pairs and ions, and may help explain the origin of large upstream fields in GRB shocks.
Document ID
20090007486
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico (Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, NJ, United States)
Nishikawa, Ken-Ichi (National Space Science and Technology Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Hededal, Christian B. (Niels Bohr Inst. Copenhagen, Denmark)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2006
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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