The microphysics of turbulent collisionless shocks: recent advances from laboratory experiments and kinetic simulations

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas and play an important role in magnetic field amplification and particle acceleration. The plasma microphysics that controls magnetic field amplification, energy partition, and particle acceleration is not yet well understood. I will present results from recent laser-driven high-energy-density experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) where we have observed for the first time high-Mach number Weibel-mediated collisionless shocks and measured the electron temperature downstream of the shock and the associated nonthermal electron acceleration. I will also discuss results from large-scale particle-in-cell simulations of counter-streaming plasma flows for the conditions of the NIF experiments, which help us elucidate the heating and injection mechanisms associated with turbulent collisionless shocks.