Microinstabilities in the Transition Region of Weak Quasi-perpendicular Intracluster Shocks

Microinstabilities play important roles in both entropy generation and particle acceleration in collisionless shocks. Recent studies have suggested that in the transition region of quasi-perpendicular (Q(perpendicular to)) shocks in the high-beta (beta = P-gas/P-B) intracluster medium (ICM), the ion temperature anisotropy due to the reflected-gyrating ions could trigger the Alfven ion cyclotron (AIC) instability and the ion-mirror instability, while the electron temperature anisotropy induced by magnetic field compression could excite the whistler instability and the electron-mirror instability. Adopting the numerical estimates for ion and electron temperature anisotropies found in the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of Q(perpendicular to) shocks with sonic Mach numbers, M-s = 2-3, we carry out a linear stability analysis for these microinstabilities. The kinetic properties of the microinstabilities and the ensuing plasma waves on both ion and electron scales are described for wide ranges of parameters, including beta and the ion-to-electron mass ratio. In addition, the nonlinear evolution of the induced plasma waves are examined by performing 2D PIC simulations with periodic boundary conditions. We find that for beta approximate to 20-100, the AIC instability could induce ion-scale waves and generate shock surface ripples in supercritical shocks above the AIC critical Mach number, M-AIC* approximate to 2.3. Also, electron-scale waves are generated primarily by the whistler instability in these high-beta shocks. The resulting multiscale waves from electron to ion scales are thought to be essential in the electron injection to diffusive shock acceleration in Q(perpendicular to) shocks in the ICM.

Automated summary

Microinstabilities have been found to play crucial roles in entropy generation and particle acceleration in collisionless shocks. Analysis of these microinstabilities in the high-beta region of the intercluster medium has revealed that ion and electron temperature anisotropies can induce various instabilities, leading to the generation of plasma waves with different scales and properties.