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Extreme Particle Acceleration in Shocks: from the laboratory to astrophysics

Descripción del proyecto

Revelar los mecanismos físicos que sustentan las ondas de choque astrofísicas

Las ondas de choque se encuentran entre los aceleradores de partículas más potentes del universo. Generadas por violentas interacciones de flujos de plasma supersónicos (y a menudo relativistas) con el medio ambiente, las ondas de choque implican complejas interacciones entre la dinámica de flujos, los campos magnéticos y las partículas aceleradas. El equipo del proyecto XPACE, financiado con fondos europeos, pretende investigar el mecanismo preciso que impulsa estas interacciones. Mediante descripciones de primeros principios, simulaciones paralelas y experimentos de laboratorio, los investigadores estudiarán la microfísica de las ondas de choque. Unos modelos nuevos y exhaustivos describirán los procesos plasmáticos que conforman la amplificación del campo magnético, la aceleración de las partículas y la emisión de radiación en las ondas de choque para resolver cuestiones básicas sobre fenómenos plasmáticos extremos.

Objetivo

Astrophysical shocks are among the most powerful particle accelerators in the Universe. Generated by violent interactions of supersonic, and often relativistic, plasma flows with the ambient medium, shock waves involve a complex and highly nonlinear interplay between the dynamics of flows, magnetic fields, and accelerated particles through mechanisms not yet fully understood. “What is the origin of cosmic rays?”, “What controls particle injection and the acceleration efficiency in collisionless shocks?”, “How is the physics of relativistic shocks modified by electron-positron pair production?”, “Can these mechanisms be studied in the laboratory?” These are long-standing scientific questions, closely tied to extreme plasma physics processes, and where the interplay between micro-instabilities and the global dynamics is critical. Advances in high-power lasers and particle beams are just now opening unique opportunities to probe the microphysics of shocks and particle acceleration in controlled laboratory experiments for the first time. Together with the fast-paced developments in fully-kinetic plasma simulations, computational power, and astronomical observations, the time is ripe to deploy a research program focused on particle acceleration in shocks that can transform our ability to address these questions. In the ERC grant XPACE, we aim to use first-principles massively parallel simulations and laboratory experiments to study the microphysics of non-relativistic and relativistic shocks, and to use data-driven techniques to develop multi-scale models that bridge the gap between the microphysics and the global dynamics. This project will build comprehensive models of the plasma processes that shape magnetic field amplification, particle acceleration, and radiation emission in shocks, with the goal of solving central questions in extreme plasma phenomena, opening new avenues between theory, computation, laboratory experiments, and astrophysical observations.

Régimen de financiación

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

Institución de acogida

IST-ID ASSOCIACAO DO INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TECNICO PARA A INVESTIGACAO E O DESENVOLVIMENTO
Aportación neta de la UEn
€ 1 799 990,00
Dirección
AVENIDA ANTONIO JOSE DE ALMEIDA 12
1000-043 Lisboa
Portugal

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Región
Continente Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Área Metropolitana de Lisboa
Tipo de actividad
Research Organisations
Enlaces
Coste total
€ 1 799 990,00

Beneficiarios (1)