Objective
The project is aimed at a detailed experimental and theoretical study of phenomena common in the dynamics of high temperature astrophysical (solar flare) and laboratory discharge plasmas. The main goal is to provide unambiguous, self-consistent models of transient plasmas through the analysis of X-ray and EUV line spectra with high spectral, temporal and spatial resolution. Theoretical efforts will be focused on the numerical modelling of plasma dynamics, based on MHD and kinetic calculations, as well as very accurate atomic physics data for highly charged ions. The research in the project will address problems of importance in the study of fundamental processes in plasmas, and will also have applications in astrophysics, thermonuclear fusion, and intensive X-ray sources used in medicine and lithography.
The following main problems are identified: formation of accelerated non Maxwellian electrons, "hot spots" and transient ionization dynamics in hot plasmas. These phenomena will be studied by means of two types of experiments, namely X-ray line polarization measurements for laboratory (tokamak and discharge) plasmas and solar flares, and high spectral and time resolution measurements of K-spectra for various elements from N through Kr in axial discharge plasma configurations.
The project has arisen from a long term collaboration between Russian groups from the Lebedev Physical Institute and the Institute for Spectroscopy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and groups a Ruhr University (Bochum, Germany) and Paris Observatory (Meudon, France) within the European Union. It will also benefit from the recently established collaboration between the Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland) and the Lebedev Institute. The joint research will be based on the extensive experience and expertise of the participants, who have worked on relevant research areas for up to 25 years. The proposed collaboration among all the groups will provide extremely accurate spectroscopic diagnostics for plasma parameters, and hence for the mechanisms under study. It will also help in the planning and interpretation of Si and Fe ion line polarization measurements for solar flare spectra, which will be performed by the Lebedev team using data from the CORONAS-F satellite.
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
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BT7 1NN Belfast
United Kingdom