Instabilities and Nonlinear Dynamics Beyond the Magnetic Threshold

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Reinhard Schlickeiser, seit 4/2013
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Astrophysik und Astronomie
• Förderung: Förderung von 2008 bis 2016
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 60352348

The interaction of black holes with the surrounding plasma results in streams of charged particles. This plasma originates, for example, from companion stars in the case of microquasars. Initially, the plasma is forced onto an accretion disc. The plasma in the disc is heated by instabilities and some of it leaves the system in form of a jet. These jets emit electromagnetic waves, which are partially due to synchrotron radiation. The relativistic electrons and strong magnetic fields, which are required by the synchrotron mechanism, are probably generated by shocks in the jet. We explore processes close to such shock waves by means of particle-in-cell and Vlasov simulations. An initial magnetic field in the simulation setup suppresses the known plasma filamentation, which facilitates the development of instabilites that yield electromagnetic waves with an electrostatic component. First promising test simulations have demonstrated that such waves can yield magnetic field strengths and electron energies that could explain the synchrotron emissions observed from jets.

• DFG-Verfahren: Forschungsgruppen
• Teilprojekt zu: FOR 1048: Instabilities, Turbulence and Transport in Cosmic Magnetic Fields
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Padma Kant Shukla, bis 4/2013 (†)