SFB1491 - CIM

Uncovering mechanisms of origin

“While our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of matter is already well established, the specific interactions responsible for multimessenger emissions from galaxies across a broad range of energies and particle species remain an important research question,” says Julia Tjus.

By combining investigations of cosmic radiation with experiments in particle physics, the team of the Collaborative Research Centre aims to uncover the mechanisms by which high-energy particles, gamma rays and neutrinos are produced. Computer-aided modelling is also intended to illuminate the interplay between charged particles and turbulent electromagnetic fields at the plasma level.

Questions about dark matter

Since visible matter also makes up only one fifth of the Universe, understanding the nature of dark matter remains one of the greatest challenges of modern science. “Four years ago, we began working on a unified description of interacting cosmic matter and brought together scientists from the fields of particle, plasma and astrophysics to address three central scientific questions,” says Julia Tjus:

1. What interactions exist between magnetized, turbulent astrophysical plasmas and cosmic radiation, and what conclusions can be drawn from them about the origin of cosmic rays?
2. How do precision measurements of particle interactions help us understand the astrophysical signatures of cosmic radiation?
3. What connections exist between the signatures of visible and dark matter?

In the first funding phase, global structures were developed and tested using individual examples. In the second funding phase, the focus will be on the quantification and systematization of these framework concepts. “Building on the results of the past four years, we will further expand our approach to developing methods for bridging boundaries in order to answer our fundamental questions in the coming years,” says Julia Tjus.