Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ahmed, H
• Dieckmann, M E
• Romagnani, L
• Doria, D
• Sarri, G
• Cerchez, M
• Ianni, E
• Kourakis, I
• Giesecke, A L
• Notley, M
• Prasad, R
• Quinn, K
• Willi, O
• Borghesi, M

Titel

Time-resolved characterization of the formation of a collisionless shock

Ist Teil von

• Physical review letters, 2013-05, Vol.110 (20), p.205001-205001, Article 205001

Ort / Verlag

United States

Erscheinungsjahr

2013

Quelle

American Physical Society

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We report on the temporally and spatially resolved detection of the precursory stages that lead to the formation of an unmagnetized, supercritical collisionless shock in a laser-driven laboratory experiment. The measured evolution of the electrostatic potential associated with the shock unveils the transition from a current free double layer into a symmetric shock structure, stabilized by ion reflection at the shock front. Supported by a matching particle-in-cell simulation and theoretical considerations, we suggest that this process is analogous to ion reflection at supercritical collisionless shocks in supernova remnants.