We discuss different approaches to infer the properties of the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF... more We discuss different approaches to infer the properties of the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) from gamma-ray observations of blazars. In particular, we investigate constraints on the IGMF strength and spacial distribution, resulting from studies of TeV blazars by imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and the Fermi-LAT instrument. We demonstrate that the non-observation of GeV gamma-rays from powerful TeV blazars indicates that more than 60% of space is filled by magnetic fields with stength ≳ 10−15 G, favoring the primordial IGMF origin.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2022
The intergalactic medium (IGM) acts like a calorimeter recording energy injection by cosmic struc... more The intergalactic medium (IGM) acts like a calorimeter recording energy injection by cosmic structure formation, shocks and photoheating from stars and active galactic nuclei. It was recently proposed that spatially inhomogeneous TeV-blazars could significantly heat up the underdense IGM, resulting in patches of both cold and warm IGM around z ≃ 2 − 3. The goal of this study is to compare predictions of different blazar heating models with recent observations of the IGM. We perform a set of cosmological simulations and carefully compute mock observables of the Lyman-α (Lyα) forest. We perform a detailed assessment of different systematic uncertainties which typically impact this type of observables and find that they are smaller than the differences between our models. We find that our inhomogeneous blazar heating model is in good agreement with the Lyα line properties and the rescaled flux probability distribution function at high redshift (2.5 < z < 3) but that our blazar he...
Many astrophysical plasmas are prone to beam-plasma instabilities. For relativistic and dilute be... more Many astrophysical plasmas are prone to beam-plasma instabilities. For relativistic and dilute beams, the spectral support of the beam-plasma instabilities is narrow, i.e., the linearly unstable modes that grow with rates comparable to the maximum growth rate occupy a narrow range of wave numbers. This places stringent requirements on the box-sizes when simulating the evolution of the instabilities. We identify the implied lower limits on the box size imposed by the longitudinal beam plasma instability, i.e., typically the most stringent condition required to correctly capture the linear evolution of the instabilities in multidimensional simulations. We find that sizes many orders of magnitude larger than the resonant wavelength are typically required. Using one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show that the failure to sufficiently resolve the spectral support of the longitudinal instability yields slower growth and lower levels of saturation, potentially leading to erro...
We discuss a model for a universe with discrete matter content instead of the continuous perfect ... more We discuss a model for a universe with discrete matter content instead of the continuous perfect fluid taken in FRW models. We show how the redshift in such a universe deviates from the corresponding one in an FRW cosmology. This illustrates the fact that averaging the matter content in a universe and then evolving it in time, is not the same as evolving a universe with discrete matter content. The main reason for such deviation is the fact that the photons in such a universe mainly travel in an empty space rather than the continuous perfect fluid in FRW geometry.
We explore how inhomogeneity in the background plasma number density alters the growth of electro... more We explore how inhomogeneity in the background plasma number density alters the growth of electrostatic unstable wavemodes of beam plasma systems. This is particularly interesting for blazar-driven beam-plasma instabilities, which may be suppressed by inhomogeneities in the intergalactic medium as was recently claimed in the literature. Using high resolution Particle-In-Cell simulations with the SHARP code, we show that the growth of the instability is local, i.e., regions with almost homogeneous background density will support the growth of the Langmuir waves, even when they are separated by strongly inhomogeneous regions, resulting in an overall slower growth of the instability. We also show that if the background density is continuously varying, the growth rate of the instability is lower; though in all cases, the system remains within the linear regime longer and the instability is not extinguished. In all cases, the beam loses approximately the same fraction of its initial kine...
Numerical heating in particle-in-cell (PIC) codes currently precludes the accurate simulation of ... more Numerical heating in particle-in-cell (PIC) codes currently precludes the accurate simulation of cold, relativistic plasma over long periods, severely limiting their applications in astrophysical environments. We present a spatially higher-order accurate relativistic PIC algorithm in one spatial dimension, which conserves charge and momentum exactly. We utilize the smoothness implied by the usage of higher-order interpolation functions to achieve a spatially higher-order accurate algorithm (up to fifth order). We validate our algorithm against several test problems -- thermal stability of stationary plasma, stability of linear plasma waves, and two-stream instability in the relativistic and non-relativistic regimes. Comparing our simulations to exact solutions of the dispersion relations, we demonstrate that SHARP can quantitatively reproduce important kinetic features of the linear regime. Our simulations have a superior ability to control energy non-conservation and avoid numerica...
arXiv: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, 2012
We discuss a model for a universe with discrete matter content instead of the continuous perfect ... more We discuss a model for a universe with discrete matter content instead of the continuous perfect fluid taken in FRW models. We show how the redshift in such a universe deviates from the corresponding one in an FRW cosmology. This illustrates the fact that averaging the matter content in a universe and then evolving it in time, is not the same as evolving a universe with discrete matter content. The main reason for such deviation is the fact that the photons in such a universe mainly travel in an empty space rather than the continuous perfect fluid in FRW geometry.
Blazars are the main source of extragalactic very high energy gamma-rays. These gamma rays annihi... more Blazars are the main source of extragalactic very high energy gamma-rays. These gamma rays annihilate on the extragalactic background light, producing electron-positron pair beams with TeV energies. The pair beams are very dilute, with beam-IGM density ratio of α ∼ 10−15, ultra-relativistic, γ ∼ 10, and energetically subdominant (γα ∼ 10−9). Such pair beams suffer from prevailing cosmological scale, linear beam-plasma instabilities. The associated instability growth rates suggest that at least initially these overwhelmingly dominate inverse Compton cooling, currently the only alternative mechanism by which the pair beams lose energy. Therefore, the full non-linear evolution of the instabilities is key to determining the mechanism by which these pair-beams lose their energy. Kinetic numerical simulations are the only method by which we can currently study the full nonlinear evolution of the blazar-induced beam-plasma instabilities. However, the extreme parameters of the pair beams ma...
We discuss different approaches to infer the properties of the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF... more We discuss different approaches to infer the properties of the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) from gamma-ray observations of blazars. In particular, we investigate constraints on the IGMF strength and spacial distribution, resulting from studies of TeV blazars by imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and the Fermi-LAT instrument. We demonstrate that the non-observation of GeV gamma-rays from powerful TeV blazars indicates that more than 60% of space is filled by magnetic fields with stength ≳ 10−15 G, favoring the primordial IGMF origin.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2022
The intergalactic medium (IGM) acts like a calorimeter recording energy injection by cosmic struc... more The intergalactic medium (IGM) acts like a calorimeter recording energy injection by cosmic structure formation, shocks and photoheating from stars and active galactic nuclei. It was recently proposed that spatially inhomogeneous TeV-blazars could significantly heat up the underdense IGM, resulting in patches of both cold and warm IGM around z ≃ 2 − 3. The goal of this study is to compare predictions of different blazar heating models with recent observations of the IGM. We perform a set of cosmological simulations and carefully compute mock observables of the Lyman-α (Lyα) forest. We perform a detailed assessment of different systematic uncertainties which typically impact this type of observables and find that they are smaller than the differences between our models. We find that our inhomogeneous blazar heating model is in good agreement with the Lyα line properties and the rescaled flux probability distribution function at high redshift (2.5 < z < 3) but that our blazar he...
Many astrophysical plasmas are prone to beam-plasma instabilities. For relativistic and dilute be... more Many astrophysical plasmas are prone to beam-plasma instabilities. For relativistic and dilute beams, the spectral support of the beam-plasma instabilities is narrow, i.e., the linearly unstable modes that grow with rates comparable to the maximum growth rate occupy a narrow range of wave numbers. This places stringent requirements on the box-sizes when simulating the evolution of the instabilities. We identify the implied lower limits on the box size imposed by the longitudinal beam plasma instability, i.e., typically the most stringent condition required to correctly capture the linear evolution of the instabilities in multidimensional simulations. We find that sizes many orders of magnitude larger than the resonant wavelength are typically required. Using one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show that the failure to sufficiently resolve the spectral support of the longitudinal instability yields slower growth and lower levels of saturation, potentially leading to erro...
We discuss a model for a universe with discrete matter content instead of the continuous perfect ... more We discuss a model for a universe with discrete matter content instead of the continuous perfect fluid taken in FRW models. We show how the redshift in such a universe deviates from the corresponding one in an FRW cosmology. This illustrates the fact that averaging the matter content in a universe and then evolving it in time, is not the same as evolving a universe with discrete matter content. The main reason for such deviation is the fact that the photons in such a universe mainly travel in an empty space rather than the continuous perfect fluid in FRW geometry.
We explore how inhomogeneity in the background plasma number density alters the growth of electro... more We explore how inhomogeneity in the background plasma number density alters the growth of electrostatic unstable wavemodes of beam plasma systems. This is particularly interesting for blazar-driven beam-plasma instabilities, which may be suppressed by inhomogeneities in the intergalactic medium as was recently claimed in the literature. Using high resolution Particle-In-Cell simulations with the SHARP code, we show that the growth of the instability is local, i.e., regions with almost homogeneous background density will support the growth of the Langmuir waves, even when they are separated by strongly inhomogeneous regions, resulting in an overall slower growth of the instability. We also show that if the background density is continuously varying, the growth rate of the instability is lower; though in all cases, the system remains within the linear regime longer and the instability is not extinguished. In all cases, the beam loses approximately the same fraction of its initial kine...
Numerical heating in particle-in-cell (PIC) codes currently precludes the accurate simulation of ... more Numerical heating in particle-in-cell (PIC) codes currently precludes the accurate simulation of cold, relativistic plasma over long periods, severely limiting their applications in astrophysical environments. We present a spatially higher-order accurate relativistic PIC algorithm in one spatial dimension, which conserves charge and momentum exactly. We utilize the smoothness implied by the usage of higher-order interpolation functions to achieve a spatially higher-order accurate algorithm (up to fifth order). We validate our algorithm against several test problems -- thermal stability of stationary plasma, stability of linear plasma waves, and two-stream instability in the relativistic and non-relativistic regimes. Comparing our simulations to exact solutions of the dispersion relations, we demonstrate that SHARP can quantitatively reproduce important kinetic features of the linear regime. Our simulations have a superior ability to control energy non-conservation and avoid numerica...
arXiv: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, 2012
We discuss a model for a universe with discrete matter content instead of the continuous perfect ... more We discuss a model for a universe with discrete matter content instead of the continuous perfect fluid taken in FRW models. We show how the redshift in such a universe deviates from the corresponding one in an FRW cosmology. This illustrates the fact that averaging the matter content in a universe and then evolving it in time, is not the same as evolving a universe with discrete matter content. The main reason for such deviation is the fact that the photons in such a universe mainly travel in an empty space rather than the continuous perfect fluid in FRW geometry.
Blazars are the main source of extragalactic very high energy gamma-rays. These gamma rays annihi... more Blazars are the main source of extragalactic very high energy gamma-rays. These gamma rays annihilate on the extragalactic background light, producing electron-positron pair beams with TeV energies. The pair beams are very dilute, with beam-IGM density ratio of α ∼ 10−15, ultra-relativistic, γ ∼ 10, and energetically subdominant (γα ∼ 10−9). Such pair beams suffer from prevailing cosmological scale, linear beam-plasma instabilities. The associated instability growth rates suggest that at least initially these overwhelmingly dominate inverse Compton cooling, currently the only alternative mechanism by which the pair beams lose energy. Therefore, the full non-linear evolution of the instabilities is key to determining the mechanism by which these pair-beams lose their energy. Kinetic numerical simulations are the only method by which we can currently study the full nonlinear evolution of the blazar-induced beam-plasma instabilities. However, the extreme parameters of the pair beams ma...
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Papers by Mohamad Shalaby