News Overview

International re­search team including STRUC­TURES member Ralf Klessen re­ceives computing time for simulating the behaviour of cosmic gases and plasmas during star formation

A Swiss-German interdisciplinary re­search team hopes to unlock the secrets of star formation using Europe’s fastest computer – the LUMI-G supercomputer in Kajaani (Finland) run by an international consortium. The researchers, including Hei­del­berg astrophysicists, aim to simulate the behaviour of gases and plasmas using a new simulation code called SPH-EXA. Project partner and STRUC­TURES member Prof. Dr Ralf Klessen of Hei­del­berg Uni­ver­si­ty’s Centre for Astronomy (ZAH) anticipates groundbreaking insights for his own research: “With our simulations we are pursuing an approach that takes the particles of gases and plasmas into account to describe the movement of fluid elements in space. This allows us to make statements about the chaotic behaviour of turbulent streams or to better capture aspects of the transition from orderly to chaotic phases of the stream.” The computer experiment thereby opens up new avenues to better understand the formation of stars and star clusters in the turbulent multi-phase interstellar medium of galaxies such as our Milky Way.

Further information:

• Ralf Klessen's Re­search Group
• Hei­del­berg Uni­ver­si­ty Press Release