Particle acceleration by magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability: mechanism for flares in black-hole accretion flows

Vladimir Zhdankin, Bart Ripperda, Alexander A. Philippov

Published 2023-02-10Version 1

We study the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in relativistic collisionless plasma, as an astrophysical process for nonthermal particle acceleration. We consider dense plasma on top of a highly magnetized cavity with sheared magnetic field. Using particle-in-cell simulations, we show that small plumes grow and merge progressively to form a large-scale plume, which triggers magnetic reconnection upon relaxation. We find efficient particle acceleration capable of explaining flares from the inner accretion flow onto the black hole Sgr A*.