Extreme plasma physics of astrophysical compact objects

Sasha Phillipov

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

3:00pm

Virtual

PSFC Seminars

 Abstract: Neutron stars and black holes are powerful sources of broad-band non-thermal electromagnetic emission, including coherent radio and high-energy radiation. The collective behavior of plasmas that produce these emission signatures is still poorly understood. In order to allow modeling emission signatures from first principles, I construct radiative kinetic plasma simulations of neutron star and black hole environments. In this talk I describe applications of these methods to the understanding of multi-wavelength pulsar emission mechanism (including the long-standing problem of the generation of coherent radio waves), as well as to pair plasma discharges and flares near supermassive black holes.

Bio: Philippov received his B.S. in physics from Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology in 2012, and his in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University in 2017. He started as an associate research scientist at the Flatiron Institute in 2018, after a year as an Einstein postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He starts as an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland in May 2022.