Electron acceleration by fast electrostatic waves moving orthogonally across a magnetic field

Abstract

We examine electron acceleration in magnetized plasma by electrostatic waves that move orthogonally across a magnetic field with a phase speed that is comparable to the light speed. We evolve the plasma phase space distribution with a particle-in-cell code. We distribute the computational electrons over an array and we volume-render this phase space density. We show key images of an animation by which we follow the electron phase space distribution throughout the simulation and which shows that the electron transport across the magnetic field, the collapse of the electrostatic wave and the resulting turbulent wave fields can accelerate electrons to gigaelectronvolt energies for wave speeds that we may find in some astrophysical environments.