11,896 research outputs found
Operator for Describing Polarization States of a Photon
Based on the quantized electromagnetic field described by the
Riemann-Silberstein complex vector , we construct the eigenvector set of , which makes up an orthonormal and complete representation. In terms of we then introduce a new operator which can describe the relative ratio of the
left-handed and right-handed polarization states of a polarized photon .In
eigenvector basis the operator manifestly exhibits a behaviour
which is similar to a phase difference between two orientations of polarization
of a light beam in classical optics.Comment: This version (5 pages) will be published in the European Physical
Journal
Particle Acceleration and Plasma Dynamics during Magnetic Reconnection in the Magnetically-dominated Regime
Magnetic reconnection is thought to be the driver for many explosive
phenomena in the universe. The energy release and particle acceleration during
reconnection have been proposed as a mechanism for producing high-energy
emissions and cosmic rays. We carry out two- and three-dimensional kinetic
simulations to investigate relativistic magnetic reconnection and the
associated particle acceleration. The simulations focus on electron-positron
plasmas starting with a magnetically dominated, force-free current sheet
(). For this limit, we demonstrate
that relativistic reconnection is highly efficient at accelerating particles
through a first-order Fermi process accomplished by the curvature drift of
particles along the electric field induced by the relativistic flows. This
mechanism gives rise to the formation of hard power-law spectra and approaches for sufficiently large and
system size. Eventually most of the available magnetic free energy is converted
into nonthermal particle kinetic energy. An analytic model is presented to
explain the key results and predict a general condition for the formation of
power-law distributions. The development of reconnection in these regimes leads
to relativistic inflow and outflow speeds and enhanced reconnection rates
relative to non-relativistic regimes. In the three-dimensional simulation, the
interplay between secondary kink and tearing instabilities leads to strong
magnetic turbulence, but does not significantly change the energy conversion,
reconnection rate, or particle acceleration. This study suggests that
relativistic reconnection sites are strong sources of nonthermal particles,
which may have important implications to a variety of high-energy astrophysical
problems.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, slightly modified after submitted to Ap
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