Objective
Quasars are the most enigmatic objects in astrophysics. Although being subject of intense study for thirty years, many fundamental aspects are still poorly understood. During the last decade several discoveries opened new lines of research. Quasars dominated by non-thermal emission were found to emit large fractions of their radiation in the gamma-ray regime. Rapid variability implies very small diameters as well as highly efficient acceleration, radiation, and cooling mechanisms. Variations on long time-scales are related to morphological changes of jets on parsec scales. In at least one source, those long-term variations may be periodic. All of these results modified our understanding of the fundamental and phenomenological aspects of Quasar models in a significant way. Quantitative understanding suffers from the limited sensitivity of current gamma-ray instrumentation, from the insufficient sampling that can be obtained with any isolated facility, and from the complexity of the physical processes involved. We suggest to coordinate the efforts of the empirical studies by the leading European teams, making use of the unprecedented opportunities that will be available in Europe in the forthcoming years thanks to a unique set of new gamma-ray instruments and facilities (INTEGRAL, AGILE, HESS, and MAGIC). A complementary effort shall be undertaken by leading European theoretical teams to combine the state of the art models of MHD plasma jets, particle acceleration and radiation processes. It is also proposed to explore the high temporal frequency regime of parameter space and to study the rare and very fast events that may ultimately directly trace particle acceleration in AGN. The low duty cyle requires large collaborative efforts, novel statistical treatments of huge data sets, and advances in numerical simulations of diffuse particle acceleration. It will greatly benefit from new instrumental developments from some of the team members.
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.
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.
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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.
Topic(s)
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.
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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.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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.
Coordinator
69117 HEIDELBERG
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.