Radiative signatures of the relativistic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability

Abstract

We present a particle-in-cell simulation of the relativistic Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability (KHI) that for the first time delivers angularly resolved radiation spectra of the particle dynamics during the formation of the KHI. This enables studying the formation of the KHI with unprecedented spatial, angular and spectral resolution. Our results are of great importance for understanding astrophysical jet formation and comparable plasma phenomena by relating the particle motion observed in the KHI to its radiation signature.

Effective laser driven proton acceleration from near critical density hydrogen plasma

“…The plasma target proposed here is hydrogen of density n i = n e = 5.22 × 10 21 cm −3 (three times of the critical density n c ) and the optimum thickness of plasma target is l = 25 μm, to utilize the maximum laser energy transfer to plasma electrons [see (1)]. 3D PIC simulations were carried out using the fully relativistic electromagnetic code PIConGPU (Burau, 2010;Bussmann et al, 2013). The boundary conditions are periodic throughout the simulation.…”

“…We performed 3D PIC simulation utilising the code PIConGPU [Bussmann et al (2013)] in this research work. We acknowledge support of the Department of Information Services and Computing, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Germany; for providing access to the GPU Compute Cluster Hypnos.…”

Efficient data layouts for a three-dimensional electrostatic Particle-in-Cell code

“…PIConGPU [18], UPIC [8], ORB5 [9], PI-CADOR [19], PICSAR [6]. The L6D space-filling curve we propose can be seen as a technique leading to a similar organization of the particles: particles are kept together in memory also in a block-like fashion, cf.…”

Visualizing the Radiation of the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability

“…It occurs at the interface of two plasma streams that flow at different speeds, causing a turbulent, chaotic mix of the two streams. The KHI, long time investigated using fluid and hybrid simulations [3] [4], could only very recently be studied using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations [5].We present a visualization of a fully relativistic PIC simulation of the KHI performed on the Titan supercomputer [6]. Achieving a peak performance of 7.2 PFlop/s, this simulation raises the standard of today's kinetic plasma simulations.…”

“…We present a visualization of a fully relativistic PIC simulation of the KHI performed on the Titan supercomputer [6]. Achieving a peak performance of 7.2 PFlop/s, this simulation raises the standard of today's kinetic plasma simulations.…”