Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 155001 (2005) [4 pages]Particle Simulation of an Ultrarelativistic Two-Stream InstabilityReceived 25 October 2004; published 20 April 2005 A two-stream instability in an unmagnetized plasma is examined by a particle-in-cell simulation. Each beam initially consists of cold electrons and protons that stream at a relative Lorentz factor 100. This is representative for plasma close to the external shocks of gamma-ray bursts. An electrostatic wave develops which saturates by trapping electrons. This wave collapses and the resulting electrostatic turbulence gives an electron momentum distribution that resembles a power law with a spectral break. Some electrons reach Lorentz factors over 1000. © 2005 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.155001
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.155001
PACS:
52.35.Fp, 52.65.Rr, 98.70.Sa
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