Speaker
Description
Collisionless shocks are among the most fundamental nonlinear processes in plasmas. Generated by violent interactions of supersonic plasma flows with the interstellar medium or planetary magnetospheres, collisionless shocks are inferred to heat the plasma, amplify magnetic fields, and accelerate electrons and protons to highly relativistic speeds. However, the exact mechanisms that control energy partition in these shocks remain a mystery, in particular in high Mach number regimes. I will discuss recent progress in using the combination of fully kinetic simulations and laser-driven laboratory experiments to study energy partition in high-Mach number collisionless shocks. I will focus on the results on magnetic field amplification, plasma heating and particle acceleration, and discuss how experimental measurements are helping benchmark models of the shock microphysics.
