Magnetically driven coupling in relativistic radiation-mediated shocks

The radiation drag in photon-rich environments of cosmic explosions can seed kinetic instabilities by inducing velocity spreads between relativistically streaming plasma components. Such microturbulence is likely imprinted on the breakout signals of radiation-mediated shocks. However, large-scale, transverse magnetic fields in the deceleration region of the shock transition can suppress the dominant kinetic instabilities by preventing the development of velocity separations between electron-positron pairs and a heavy ion species. We use a 1D five-fluid radiative transfer code to generate self-consistent profiles of the radiation drag force and plasma composition in the deceleration region. For increasing magnetization, our models predict rapidly growing pair multiplicities and a substantial radiative drag developing self-similarly throughout the deceleration region. We extract the critical magnetization parameter sigma(c), determining the limiting magnetic field strength at which a three-species plasma can develop kinetic instabilities before reaching the isotropized downstream. For a relativistic, single ion plasma drifting with gamma(u) = 10 in the upstream of a relativistic radiation-mediated shock, we find the threshold sigma(c) approximate to 10(-7) for the onset of microturbulence. Suppression of plasma instabilities in the case of multi-ion composition would likely require much higher values of sigma(c). Identifying high-energy signatures of microturbulence in shock breakout signals and combining them with the magnetization limits provided in this work will allow a deeper understanding of the magnetic environment of cosmic explosions like supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and neutron star binary mergers.

Automated summary

The radiation drag in photon-rich cosmic explosions can induce kinetic instabilities by creating velocity spreads between plasma components. However, large-scale magnetic fields can suppress these instabilities in the deceleration region of the shock transition. Using a radiative transfer code, we study the effects of magnetization on the development of instabilities. We find that the threshold for the onset of microturbulence is approximately 10(-7) for a relativistic, single ion plasma.