Experiments to Observe the Weibel Instability: The Origin of Gamma Ray Burst Afterglow

Details Experiments to Observe the Weibel Instability: The Origin of Gamma Ray Burst Afterglow Experiments to Observe the Weibel Instability: The Origin of Gamma Ray Burst Afterglow

May 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008aas...212.0340h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #212, #3.40; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.192

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Recent theories suggest that the radiation signature of gamma ray bursts may be the result of the interaction of ultrarelativistic electrons, ejected from supernova shocks, with small-scale magnetic fields.a These tiny "tangled" magnetic fields are thought to be created by the two-stream filamentation instability, or Weibel Instability, of the beaming electrons. As the charged particles propagate, local density perturbations form lines of current, which create magnetic fields within the beam. These fields act to pinch the areas of higher electron density, forming filaments of characteristic diameter c/ωp, where c is the speed of light and ωp is the electron plasma frequency. Using the Hercules laser facility at the University of Michigan, we are conducting an experiment to create an electron beam by the laser wakefield technique, produce such filaments by passing the electron beam through another plasma, and image the resulting structure. Analysis of the beam structure will be compared with theory and simulation and will provide direction for future investigation of gamma ray burst signatures.
a. Medvedev MV., Loeb A. Generation of Magnetic Fields in the Relativistic Shock of Gamma-Ray-Burst Sources. Astrophys.J. 526 (1999) 697-706
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation through Grant PHY-0114336 and by NNSA Stewardship Sciences Academic Alliances through DOE Research Grant DE-FG52-04NA00064.

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