Conditions of structural transition for collisionless electrostatic shock

Collisionless shock acceleration, which transfers localized particle energies to non-thermal energetic particles via electromagnetic potential, is ubiquitous in space plasma. We investigate dynamics of collisionless electrostatic shocks that appear at interface of two plasma slabs with different pressures using one-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and find that the shock structure transforms to a double-layer structure at the high density gradient. The threshold condition of the structure transformation is identified as density ratio of the two plasma slabs $\Gamma$ $\sim 40$ regardless of the temperature ratio between them. We then update the collisionless shock model that takes into account density expansion effects caused by a rarefaction wave to improve the prediction of the critical Mach numbers. The new critical Mach numbers are benchmarked by PIC simulations for a wide range of $\Gamma$. Furthermore, we introduce a semi-analytical approach to forecast the shock velocity just from the initial conditions based on a new concept of the accelerated fraction $\alpha$.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures; accepted for publication on PR

Effect of target material on fast-electron transport and resistive collimation.

The effect of target material on fast-electron transport is investigated using a high-intensity (0.7 ps, ${10}^{20}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$) laser pulse irradiated on multilayered solid Al targets with embedded transport (Au, Mo, Al) and tracer (Cu) layers, backed with millimeter-thick carbon foils to minimize refluxing. We consistently observed a more collimated electron beam (36% average reduction in fast-electron induced Cu K\ensuremath{\alpha} spot size) using a high- or mid-$Z$ (Au or Mo) layer compared to Al. All targets showed a similar electron flux level in the central spot of the beam. Two-dimensional collisional particle-in-cell simulations showed formation of strong self-generated resistive magnetic fields in targets with a high-$Z$ transport layer that suppressed the fast-electron beam divergence; the consequent magnetic channels guided the fast electrons to a smaller spot, in good agreement with experiments. These findings indicate that fast-electron transport can be controlled by self-generated resistive magnetic fields and may have important implications to fast ignition