Plasma-based accelerators have demonstrated their ability to accelerate electrons at very high gradients (>100GeV/m). They have a number of niche applications. The AWAKE...
Feb7
Extreme Astrophysical Accelerators: A Microphysical Perspective
Frederico Fiuza, SLAC
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Astrophysical shock waves are among the most powerful particle accelerators in the Universe. Generated by violent interactions of supersonic plasma flows with the interstellar or intergalactic medium, shocks are inferred to amplify magnetic fields and accelerate electrons and protons to highly relativistic speeds. However, the exact mechanisms that allow these shocks to amplify magnetic fields and produce energetic particles so efficiently remain a mystery and cannot be directly resolved in distant astrophysical objects. I will discuss how the fast progress in numerical simulations and laboratory experiments, associated with powerful light sources and accelerator facilities, is opening new windows into the microphysics of these fascinating cosmic accelerators.
About Frederico Fiuza
Frederico Fiuza is a Senior Staff Scientist and the Theory Group Leader at the High Energy Density Science division at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He obtained his PhD degree in Plasma Physics from Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal, in 2012. He then became a Lawrence Postdoctoral Fellow at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory between 2012 and 2015, before joining SLAC. His research interests span a wide range of topics in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas, including particle acceleration, magnetic field dynamics, and intense laser-plasma interactions. Recently, Fiuza’s work on laboratory astrophysics was recognized with the 2018 APS Thomas H. Stix Award for Outstanding Early Career Contributions to Plasma Physics Research and the 2020 APS John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research. He has also been awarded the Lawrence Fellowship in 2012, the European Physical Society PhD Research Award in 2013, and the DOE Early Career Research Program Award in 2017.
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