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SUMMARY:Extreme Plasma Astrophysics - Prof. Dmitri A. Uzdensky (University
  of Oxford)
DTSTART:20260316T160000Z
DTEND:20260316T170000Z
UID:TALK242479@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:David Hosking
DESCRIPTION:Many spectacular phenomena in the high-energy Universe\, such 
 as bright\, rapid gamma-ray flares\, are powered by complex collective pla
 sma processes around relativistic objects: neutron stars and black holes. 
 While our understanding of such processes has greatly benefitted from trad
 itional (space\, solar\, laboratory) plasma research\, the physical condit
 ions near black holes and neutron stars are so extreme that conventional i
 ntuition often fails\, and a richer physics framework is required. Extreme
  astrophysical plasmas are relativistic\, interact strongly with radiation
 \, and may be subject to QED (e.g.\, pair-production) effects. Understandi
 ng how this additional physics affects collective plasma processes (waves 
 and instabilities\, magnetic reconnection\, turbulence\, etc.) is the main
  goal of _*Extreme Plasma Astrophysics*_. Exploration of this new exciting
  frontier is now advancing rapidly\, thanks to strong observational motiva
 tion\, vigorous theoretical efforts\, and the advent of novel first-princi
 ples relativistic kinetic plasma simulation codes incorporating radiation 
 and QED effects.  Laser-plasma experiments will soon also contribute to th
 is revolution.  In this talk\, I will review the recent progress in this b
 urgeoning new field\, focusing on theoretical and computational studies of
  relativistic radiative magnetic reconnection and turbulence and their ast
 rophysical applications to neutron-star magnetospheres and black-hole coro
 nae and jets. I will also outline key theoretical challenges and future di
 rections of Extreme Plasma Astrophysics. \n
LOCATION:MR14 DAMTP and online
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