Channeled blast wave behavior based on longitudinal instabilities

¹ Institut für Theoretische Physik, Lehrstuhl IV: Weltraum- und Astrophysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
² Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA

Corresponding author: M. Pohl, mkp@tp4.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Received: 20 July 2001
Accepted: 22 November 2001

Abstract

To address the important issue of how kinetic energy of collimated blast waves is converted into radiation, Pohl & Schlickeiser ([CITE]) have recently investigated the relativistic two-stream instability of electromagnetic turbulence. They have shown that swept-up matter is quickly iso tro pized in the blast wave, which provides relativistic particles and, as a result, radiation. Here we present new calculations for the electrostatic instability in such systems. It is shown that the electrostatic instability is faster than the electromagnetic instability for highly relativistic beams. However, even after relaxation of the beam via the faster electrostatic turbulence, the beam is still unstable with respect to the electromagnetic waves, thus providing the isotropization required for efficient production of radiation. While the emission spectra in the model of Pohl & Schlickeiser have to be modified, the basic characteristics persist.