Experiments to Observe the Weibel Instability: The Origin of Gamma Ray Burst Afterglow

POSTER

Abstract

Recent theory suggest that the radiation signature of gamma ray burst afterglow may be the result of the interaction of ultrarelativistic electrons, ejected from supernova shocks, with small-scale magnetic fields. These tiny ``tangled'' magnetic fields are thought to be created by the two-stream filamentation instability, or Weibel Instability, of the beaming electrons. Using the Hercules laser facility at the University of Michigan, we are conducting an experiment to create an electron beam by the laser wakefield technique, produce such filaments by passing the electron beam through another plasma, and image the resulting structure. This experiment provides one of the first direct observations of Weibel filamentation in a relativistic electron beam.

*This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation through Grant PHY-0114336 and by NNSA Stewardship Sciences Academic Alliances through DOE Research Grant DE-FG52-04NA00064.

Authors

  • Channing Huntington

    • University of Michigan
    • AOSS, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor

  • Takeshi Matsuoka

    • University of Michigan
    • FOCUS Center, CUOS, U. of M.
    • FOCUS Center and CUOS, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    • Michigan Univ., USA
    • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

  • Christopher McGuffey

    • University of Michigan
    • FOCUS Center and CUOS, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

  • Anatoly Maksimchuk

    • University of Michigan
    • FOCUS Center and CUOS, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

  • Victor Yanovsky

    • University of Michigan
    • FOCUS Center and CUOS, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor

  • Karl Krushelnick

    • University of Michigan
    • FOCUS Center and CUOS, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

  • Tom Katsouleas

    • University of Southern California

  • Mikhail Medvedev

    • University Of Kansas
    • University of Kansas

  • Luis Silva

    • Instituto Superior T\'ecnico, Portuagal
    • GoLP
    • GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal
    • GoLP/IPFN, Instituto Superior T\'ecnico, Portugal
    • GoLP/IPFN - Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal
    • GoLP/IPFN, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal
    • Instituto Superior Tecnico

  • Warren Mori

    • University of California Los Angeles
    • UCLA
    • Polymath Research Inc.
    • University of California, Los Angeles

  • R. Bingham

    • Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK
    • Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
    • Rutherford Laboratory

  • R. Paul Drake

    • University of Michigan
    • Univ. of Michigan
    • AOSS, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor