In this joint talk, we will provide an overview of plasma physics research in the context of space and astrophysical environments, charting a journey from our local heliosphere to distant compact objects. We will begin by covering the fundamentals of heliospheric plasmas, including the physics of the solar corona, the properties of the solar wind, and the dynamics of near-Earth plasmas [1]. We...
Astrophysical jets are highly collimated outflows observed in a wide range of astronomical systems, from young stellar objects and X-ray binaries to active galactic nuclei (AGN). These jets are intimately linked to the accretion processes occurring around forming stars or supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. I will focus on the extragalactic case, where jets are accelerated to...
A single-species (e.g., electron) plasma can have a theoretically indefinite lifetime in a magneto-electrostatic device such as a Penning-Malmberg trap, a linear, azimuthally-symmetric electrostatic confinement environment immersed in an intense axial magnetic field. Here the transverse dynamics of the sample is isomorphic to the one exhibited by a two-dimensional ideal fluid – with...
Over almost the past six decades, a fleet of space missions, strategically placed throughout the heliosphere at critical vantage points, have been devoted to the exploration of the interplanetary space, greatly advancing our knowledge of how the Sun influences the whole solar system, through the solar wind, a continuous flow of charged particles emitted by the outer layer of the solar...
A Low-Temperature Plasma (LTP) is a partially ionized gas in which electron energies are of the order of the ionisation potential of atoms and molecules, typically of a few eV, while the ions and the neutral are at low energy, close to room temperature. Essentially, this plasma represents a non-equilibrium system, with the electron temperature being higher than the ion temperature, even of...
Italy has a long and prestigious history of research activity related to the field of laser/beam plasma interaction and inertial confinement fusion, dating back to the last century and spanning many decades. Pioneering experiments and theoretical research have been conducted in our country in this broad field, providing our research groups with the knowledge and expertise necessary to build...
EuPRAXIA is the first European project devoted to create a particle accelerator research infrastructure based on plasma acceleration and laser and linac technology.
The project aims at developing plasma-based particle accelerator facilities, exploiting the intrinsic high gradient of up to 100 GV/m to improve the sustainability of particle accelerators. Furthermore, EuPRAXIA foresees to employ...
