1,2,- 1Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- 2Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- 3Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- 4Department of Astronomy and Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
- 5Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
- 6Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, 5720 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
We investigate the diffusive shock acceleration of partially ionized ions by introducing helium-, carbon-, and iron-like ions at solar abundances into two-dimensional hybrid (kinetic ions/fluid electrons) simulations of nonrelativistic collisionless shocks. We find that heavy ions are preferentially accelerated, with energy transfer to helium comparable to or exceeding that of hydrogen, enhancing shock acceleration efficiency. Moreover, accelerated helium ions play a role in magnetic field amplification and in controlling the ensuing spectra of accelerated particles. We also show how efficient particle acceleration modifies the shock compression ratio, which has implications for the predicted arrival times of coronal mass ejections at Earth.
How to cite: Caprioli, D., Orusa, L., Cernetic, M., Haggerty, C. C., and Ostler, B.: Acceleration of He and heavy ions at collisionless shocks, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22242, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22242, 2026.
