It’s Not What You Think It Is

ByMetanexus Editors

The origin of high-energy particles in astrophysics is still a mystery. Annihilation of magnetic field lines of opposite orientation, a process known as “magnetic reconnection,” may convert the magnetic energy into particle energy. In this process, the magnetic field will end up being confined within magnetic islands (represented as red blobs in this image), with high-energy particles meandering among the islands (represented as yellow tracks in this image). Although this image has nothing to do with biology, it carries astonishing visual similarity with the very first burst of energy in human life.

Author

  • Lorenzo Sironi is an astrophysicist interested in the most energetic and powerful phenomena of the universe—involving the explosive death of massive stars and the presence of neutron stars or black holes. He studies the radiation signatures of such objects, trying to unveil the physical processes acting in these extreme environments. He focuses in particular on the acceleration of particles to highly relativistic energies and on the generation or dissipation of magnetic fields. He graduated from the Scuola Normale of Pisa in Italy in 2006, and got his doctorate in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University in 2011. He is currently a NASA Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University.

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