Plasma physics across scales: From atmospheric discharges to astrophysical phenomena

In this presentation, I am going to introduce our group on the theory and modelling of atmospheric discharges and astrophyiscal processes and give an outline of future projects.

Lightning is a multiscale phenomenon bridging several length scales, from the nanoscale motion of electrons to the kilometer long lightning channels as well as multitudinous energy scales ranging from sub-eV to several tens of MeV. I am going to give an introduction into the physics of electric discharges as well as of production and properties of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), bursts of energetic photons emitted from thunderstorms with quantum energies of up to 40 MeV, making them the highest natural phenomena from Earth with energies beyond those of radioactive decay chains. I will present the current state of our research on electric discharges and high-energy emissions and give an overview of future projects and introduce the Horizon Europe Doctoral Networks GRAIL (Gamma Radiation from the Atmosphere for Investigation and Learning) and SWIRL (Science for WInd turbine Resilience to Lightning).

In the past, we extended our methodology and research also to astrophysical problems as well as fundamental questions about the Universe’s space-time structure and processes within. I will present a summary of these activities including particle simulations of relativistic jets (as in gamma-ray bursts) as well as simulating particles in curved space-time (as relevant for the environments of black holes and neutron stars) and give an outline of future work.