Particle Acceleration by Magnetic Reconnection in Relativistic Jets: The Transition from Small to Large Scales

Author(s)

Medina-Torrejon, Tania E. E. ; Dal Pino, Elisabete M. de Gouveia M. ; Kowal, Grzegorz

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL; v. 952, n. 2, p. 11-pg., 2023-08-01.

Abstract

Several MHD works, and, in particular, the recent one by Medina-Torrejon et al. based on three-dimensional MHD simulations of relativistic jets, have evidenced that particle acceleration by magnetic reconnection driven by the turbulence in the flow occurs from the resistive up to the large injection scale of the turbulence. Particles experience Fermi-type acceleration up to ultrahigh energies, predominantly of the parallel velocity component to the local magnetic field, in the reconnection layers in all scales due to the ideal electric fields of the background fluctuations (V x B, where V and B are the velocity and magnetic field of the fluctuations, respectively). In this work, we show MHD-particle-in-cell (MHD-PIC) simulations following the early stages of the particle acceleration in the relativistic jet, which confirm these previous results, demonstrating the strong potential of magnetic reconnection driven by turbulence to accelerate relativistic particles to extreme energies in magnetically dominated flows. Our results also show that the dynamical time variations of the background magnetic fields do not influence the acceleration of the particles in this process. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/10559-5 - Investigation of high energy and plasma astrophysics phenomena: theory, numerical simulations, observations, and instrument development for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)
• Grantee: Elisabete Maria de Gouveia Dal Pino
• Support Opportunities: Special Projects
• FAPESP's process: 13/10559-5 - Investigation of high energy and plasma astrophysics phenomena: theory, numerical simulations, observations, and instrument development for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)
• Grantee: Elisabete Maria de Gouveia Dal Pino
• Support Opportunities: Special Projects
• FAPESP's process: 19/03301-8 - Observation and models of solar and stellar active regions at radio wavelengths (mm/sub-mm)
• Grantee: Caius Lucius Selhorst
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 21/06502-4 - Interlink between turbulence, magnetic reconnection, and cosmic-ray production in non-relativistic and relativistic astrophysical plasmas
• Grantee: Grzegorz Kowal
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants - Phase 2
• FAPESP's process: 09/54006-4 - A computer cluster for the Astronomy Department of the University of São Paulo Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences and for the Cruzeiro do Sul University Astrophysics Center
• Grantee: Elisabete Maria de Gouveia Dal Pino
• Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program