Laboratory evidence of the nonresonant streaming instability in the formation of quasiparallel collisionless shocks at high Alfvénic Mach number.

Bolaños, S; Manuel, M J-E; Bailly-Grandvaux, M; Bogale, A S; Caprioli, D; Klein, S R; Michta, D; Tzeferacos, P et al. · Phys Rev E · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We present an experimental investigation of the formation stage of a collisionless shock when the flow velocity is aligned with an ambient magnetic field utilizing laser-driven, super-Alfvénic plasma flows. As the flows interact, electromagnetic streaming instabilities develop. Proton deflectometry is used to visualize these electromagnetic fluctuations indicating the development of the ion-Weibel instability and the nonresonant instability. Hybrid simulations also show growth of the nonresonant instability and suggest that it provides an efficient source of dissipation for a shock.