Project description
A quest to decipher solar prominences
The most spectacular solar eruptions recorded in history invariably involved the violent ejection of a prominence: a giant, cool and dense plasma cloud that formed spontaneously within the solar corona. The role of the dominant prominence mass in coronal mass ejections is poorly understood. Surprisingly, little is also known about prominence formation and disappearance. High-resolution ab initio simulations are needed to provide answers to intriguing riddles regarding prominences. Armed with state-of-the-art software, the EU-funded PROMINENT project plans to resolve prominence-related mysteries, confront historic and forthcoming observations and train a new generation of solar physicists.
Objective
The most spectacular solar eruptions recorded in history - such as the Grand Daddy Prominence eruption on the 4th of June 1946 - invariably involve the violent ejection of a prominence: a giant, cool and dense plasma cloud that formed spontaneously within the million-degree solar corona. The role of the dominant prominence mass in all magnetically mediated coronal mass ejections is poorly understood, and yet a typical prominence easily outweighs our Earth population in mass (and the Earth itself in size). While they pervade the solar corona in all shapes and sizes, surprisingly little is known on their formation and ultimate disappearance. At the advent of two revolutionary space missions to the inner reaches of our heliosphere (Parker Probe and Solar Orbiter), a dedicated effort on ab initio prominence simulations beyond current resolution limits is needed. This must provide conclusive answers to intriguing riddles: How, where and why does the solar corona spontaneously condense to form these gigantic structures? What is the magnetic field topology throughout the prominence body, and how can it support their weight against solar gravity? What causes the fine structure (so-called threads and barbs) throughout the prominence body, and what is the role of the mysterious solar tornadoes often found at their feet? Can we use their natural oscillation frequencies seismologically? Is it feasible to predict their eruption, and can one quantify their role in space weather contexts? Armed with state-of-the-art, grid-adaptive software to efficiently exploit current and next generation supercomputers, we will resolve these mysteries, confront historic and forthcoming observations, and train a new generation of solar physicists. Along the way, we unravel fundamental processes relevant in many astrophysical contexts: how do radiatively driven, thermal instabilities induce catastrophic, non-gravitationally mediated condensations?
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2018-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3000 Leuven
Belgium
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