How can cosmic rays reaching the Earth have energies orders of magnitude higher than our most powerful accelerator? What is the mechanism behind the Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) observed from Earth?
Answering these outstanding open questions requires a profound knowledge of the microphysics behind the astrophysical plasmas that permeate these objects.
To better understand such phenomena, scientists working in laboratory astrophysics mimic the microphysics in these extreme objects, such as neutron stars or supernova remnants, in our labs utilizing high-power laser and particle beams.
Generating plasmas with the appropriate conditions is crucial in these experiments. The team will perform large-scale particle-in-cell simulations that support novel configurations to generate plasmas with comparable conditions to those found around astrophysical objects.
The study focuses on sources of coherent emission and filamentation of plasmas relevant to explaining a wide range of phenomena associated with compact objects, including the origin of FRBs.
These simulations are computationally intensive since they must resolve the smallest plasma scales to model the relevant phenomena. EuroHPC's computing resources open the way for high-fidelity simulations with unprecedented details, unlocking the path to solving the outstanding questions overarching this project.
Thales Silva, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa - Portugal