This topical volume has been written with the explicit aim to provide a high-level introductory book for a field where there were no elementary textbooks available. It addresses postgraduate students and young scientists investigating space plasma physics or planning to specialize in this field. Experienced researchers will find this book to be a comprehensive source of reference as well as a source of advanced topics for their courses.

The review articles collected in this volume present a critical assessment of particle acceleration mechanisms and observations from suprathermal particles in the magnetosphere and heliosphere to high-energy cosmic rays, thus covering a range of energies over seventeen orders of magnitude, from 103 eV to 1020 eV. The main themes are observations of accelerated populations from the magnetosphere to extragalactic scales and assessments of the physical processes underlying particle acceleration in different environments (magnetospheres, the solar atmosphere, the heliosphere, supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae and relativistic outflows). Several contributions review the status of shock acceleration in different environments and also the role of turbulence in particle acceleration. Observational results are compared with modelling in different parameter regimes. The book concludes with contributions on the status of particle acceleration research and its future perspectives. This volume is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in astrophysics and space science. Previously published in Space Science Reviews journal, Vol. 173 Nos. 1-4, 2012.

The review articles collected in this volume present a critical assessment of particle acceleration mechanisms and observations from suprathermal particles in the magnetosphere and heliosphere to high-energy cosmic rays, thus covering a range of energies over seventeen orders of magnitude, from 103 eV to 1020 eV. The main themes are observations of accelerated populations from the magnetosphere to extragalactic scales and assessments of the physical processes underlying particle acceleration in different environments (magnetospheres, the solar atmosphere, the heliosphere, supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae and relativistic outflows). Several contributions review the status of shock acceleration in different environments and also the role of turbulence in particle acceleration. Observational results are compared with modelling in different parameter regimes. The book concludes with contributions on the status of particle acceleration research and its future perspectives. This volume is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in astrophysics and space science. Previously published in Space Science Reviews journal, Vol. 173 Nos. 1-4, 2012.

Shock waves are an important feature of solar system plasmas, from the solar corona out to the edge of the heliosphere. This engaging introduction to collisionless shocks in space plasmas presents a comprehensive review of the physics governing different types of shocks and processes of particle acceleration, from fundamental principles to current research. Motivated by observations of planetary bow shocks, interplanetary shocks and the solar wind termination shock, it emphasises the physical theory underlying these shock waves. Readers will develop an understanding of the complex interplay between particle dynamics and the electric and magnetic fields that explains the observations of in situ spacecraft. Written by renowned experts in the field, this up-to-date text is the ideal companion for both graduate students new to heliospheric physics and researchers in astrophysics who wish to apply the lessons of solar system shocks to different astrophysical environments.