Estimate of the maximum induced magnetic field in relativistic shocks

The proton-drivenWeibel instability is a crucial process for amplifying the generated magnetic fields in gamma-ray bursts. An expression for the saturation level of magnetic fields is estimated in a relativistic shock consisting of electron-proton plasmas. Within the shock transition layer, the plasma is modelled with the waterbag and Maxwell-Juttner distribution functions for asymmetric counter-propagating proton beams and isotropic background electrons, respectively. The proton-drivenWeibel-type instability in the linear phase is investigated thoroughly and then the instability conditions and the stabilization mechanisms are considered in details just after the shutdown of the electron Weibel instability. The growth rate of the instability and the saturated magnetic field strength are obtained in terms of the effective proton beam Mach number, asymmetry parameter, and the background electron temperature. In this paper, fully relativistic kinetic treatment is used to formulate the dispersion relation for the proton Weibel-type instability. Then, by using the magnetic trapping criteria, the saturated magnetic field strength is computed. In the present scenario, the instability includes two stages: in the first stage the electronWeibel instability evolves very rapidly, but in the second one because of the free energy stored in the slow counter-propagating proton beams, the instability is further amplified in the context of electrons with an isotropic distribution function. Increment of the growth rate and saturated magnetic field by increasing (decreasing) the effective proton beam Mach number (the asymmetry parameter) is deduced from the results. It is shown that at the temperatures around 10(8) K a maximum magnetic field up to around 56 G can be detected by this mechanism after the saturation time.