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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Experimental Observation of a Current-Driven Instability in a Neutral Electron-Positron Beam
AU - Warwick, J.
AU - Dzelzainis, T.
AU - Dieckmann, M. E.
AU - Schumaker, W.
AU - Doria, D.
AU - Romagnani, L.
AU - Poder, K.
AU - Cole, J. M.
AU - Alejo, A.
AU - Yeung, M.
AU - Krushelnick, K.
AU - Mangles, S. P. D.
AU - Najmudin, Z.
AU - Reville, B.
AU - Samarin, G. M.
AU - Symes, D. D.
AU - Thomas, A. G. R.
AU - Borghesi, M.
AU - Sarri, G.
N1 - ©2017 American Physical Society.
PY - 2017/11/3
Y1 - 2017/11/3
N2 - We report on the first experimental observation of a current-driven instability developing in a quasineutral matter-antimatter beam. Strong magnetic fields (>= 1 T) are measured, via means of a proton radiography technique, after the propagation of a neutral electron-positron beam through a background electron-ion plasma. The experimentally determined equipartition parameter of epsilon(B) approximate to 10(-3) is typical of values inferred from models of astrophysical gamma-ray bursts, in which the relativistic flows are also expected to be pair dominated. The data, supported by particle-in-cell simulations and simple analytical estimates, indicate that these magnetic fields persist in the background plasma for thousands of inverse plasma frequencies. The existence of such long-lived magnetic fields can be related to analog astrophysical systems, such as those prevalent in lepton-dominated jets.
AB - We report on the first experimental observation of a current-driven instability developing in a quasineutral matter-antimatter beam. Strong magnetic fields (>= 1 T) are measured, via means of a proton radiography technique, after the propagation of a neutral electron-positron beam through a background electron-ion plasma. The experimentally determined equipartition parameter of epsilon(B) approximate to 10(-3) is typical of values inferred from models of astrophysical gamma-ray bursts, in which the relativistic flows are also expected to be pair dominated. The data, supported by particle-in-cell simulations and simple analytical estimates, indicate that these magnetic fields persist in the background plasma for thousands of inverse plasma frequencies. The existence of such long-lived magnetic fields can be related to analog astrophysical systems, such as those prevalent in lepton-dominated jets.
KW - GAMMA-RAY BURSTS
KW - LASER-PLASMA INTERACTION
KW - MAGNETIC-FIELDS
KW - FIREBALL MODEL
KW - SHOCKS
KW - ACCELERATION
KW - GENERATION
KW - PARAMETERS
KW - AFTERGLOW
KW - ENERGY
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.185002
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.185002
M3 - Journal article
VL - 119
JO - Physical review letters
JF - Physical review letters
SN - 0031-9007
IS - 18
M1 - 185002
ER -