Shock accelerated electrons are found in many astrophysical environments, and the mechanisms by which they are accelerated to high energies are still not completely clear. For relatively high Mach numbers, the shock is supercritical, and its front exhibit broadband fluctuations, or ripples. Shock surface fluctuations have been object of many observational and theoretical studies, and are known to be important for electron acceleration. We employ a combination of hybrid Particle-In-Cell and testparticle methods to study how shock surface fluctuations influence the acceleration of suprathermal electrons in fully three dimensional simulations, and we give a complete comparison for the 2D and 3D cases. A range of different quasi-perpendicular shocks in 2D and 3D is examined, over a range of parameters compatible with the ones observed in the solar wind. Initial electron velocity distributions are taken as kappa functions, consistent with solar wind in-situ measurements. Electron acceleration is found to be enhanced in the supercritical regime compared to subcritical. When the fully three-dimensional structure of the shock front is resolved, slightly larger energisation for the electrons is observed, and we suggest that this is due to the possibility for the electrons to interact with more than one surface fluctuation per interaction. In the supecritical regime, efficient electron energisation is found also at shock geometries departing from θ Bn very close to 90 • . Two dimensional simulations show indications of unrealistic electron trapping, leading to slightly higher energisation in the subcritical cases.Collisionless shock transitions have an internal structure controlled by many parameters,the most important of which is the angle between the upstream magnetic field and the normal to the shock surface, θ Bn . When θ Bn 45 • (i.e.,

We present the first observational evidence of the irregular surface of interplanetary (IP) shocks by using multi-spacecraft observations of the Cluster mission. In total we discuss observations of four IP shocks that exhibit moderate Alfvénic Mach numbers (M A ≤6.5). Three of them are high-β shocks with upstream β = 2.2-3.7. During the times when these shocks were observed, the Cluster spacecraft formed constellations with inter-spacecraft separations ranging from less than one upstream ion inertial length (d i ) up to 100 d i . Expressed in kilometers, the distances ranged between 38 km and ∼10 4 km. We show that magnetic field profiles and the local shock normals of observed shocks are very similar when the spacecraft are of the order of one d i apart, but are strikingly different when the distances increase to ten or more d i . We interpret these differences to be due to the irregular surface of IP shocks and discuss possible causes for such irregularity. We strengthen our interpretation by comparing observed shock profiles with profiles of simulated shocks. The latter had similar characteristics (M A , θ BN , upstream ion β) as observed shocks and the profiles were obtained at separations across the simulation domain equivalent to the Cluster inter-spacecraft distances.

Magnetosheath jets and plasmoids are very common phenomena downstream of Earth’s quasi-parallel bow shock. As the increase of the dynamic pressure is one of the principal characteristics of magnetosheath jets, the embedded paramagnetic plasmoids have been considered as an special case of the former. Although the properties of both types of structures have been widely studied during the last 20 years, their formation mechanisms have not been examined thoroughly. In this work we perform a 2D local hybrid simulation (kinetic ions – fluid electrons) of a quasi-parallel (θ Bn = 15°), supercritical (M A = 7) collisionless shock in order to study these mechanisms. Specifically, we analyze the formation of one jet and one plasmoid, showing for the first time that they can be produced by different mechanisms related to the same shock. In our simulation, the magnetosheath jet is formed according to the mechanism proposed by Hietala, where at the shock ripples the upstream solar wind suffers locally less deceleration and the flow is focused in the downstream side, producing a compressed and high-velocity region that leads to an increase of dynamic pressure downstream of the shock. The formation of the plasmoid, however, follows a completely new scenario being generated by magnetic reconnection between two plasma layers with opposite B-field orientation in the region just behind the shock.

Highly energetic, relativistic electrons are commonly present in many astrophysical systems, from solar flares to the intracluster medium, as indicated by observed electromagnetic radiation. However, open questions remain about the mechanisms responsible for their acceleration, and possible reacceleration. Ubiquitous plasma turbulence is one of the possible universal mechanisms. We study the energization of transrelativistic electrons in turbulence using a hybrid particle-in-cell method, which provides a realistic model of Alfvénic turbulence from MHD to subion scales, and test particle simulations for electrons. We find that, depending on the electron initial energy and turbulence strength, electrons may undergo a fast and efficient phase of energization due to the magnetic curvature drift during the time they are trapped in dynamic magnetic structures. In addition, electrons are accelerated stochastically, which is a slower process that yields lower maximum energies. The combined effect of these two processes determines the overall electron acceleration. With appropriate turbulence parameters, we find that superthermal electrons can be accelerated up to relativistic energies. For example, with heliospheric parameters and a relatively high turbulence level, rapid energization to megaelectronvolt energies is possible.