Title: High Energy Density Physics experiments: from Planetary Physics to Laboratory Astrophysics

Speaker: Michel Koenig

Institute: LULI/CNRS

Host: 刘彤

Time: 2026.5.15 周五 14:30

Location: 物理楼 223

Abstract:

High energy lasers allow to recreate in the laboratory matter in extreme conditions that can corresponds to situations existing in the universe. In particular planetary physics and astrophysics are nowadays strongly developed providing new insights in the domain.

In this talk, I will first report on measurements performed on the LIL (Ligne d’Intégration Laser) laser facility at CEA-CESTA in Bordeaux where we did used a dedicated ramp-tailored laser pulse (2-10 kJ, 20 ns) to recreate state of matter existing in the interior of telluric planets. Two materials of interest for telluric planets (iron and quartz) were investigated and are discussed.

Second, in astrophysics, we pay recently a dedicated attention to the physics of supernovae explosion such as radiative shocks, hydrodynamic instabilities and turbulence.

We know that in astrophysics, many phenomena involving strong radiative shocks (RS) disturb and inject energy into the interstellar medium, affecting the rate of star formation in galaxies. For instance, the compression and disturbance of the interstellar gas caused by shocks from supernova explosions can trigger the collapse of nearby molecular clouds, initiating the formation of new stars. Therefore, the interaction of strong radiative shock waves with other structures is a central problem. Moreover, magnetic fields play an important role additionally to radiation for example in protogalaxies giving rise to globular clusters. It also can stabilize thermal instability with a transverse magnetic field. Recent results of experiments on radiative shock (magnetized recently), their interaction with an obstacle, are considered. Finally, we investigated hydrodynamic instabilities, their evolution up to turbulence in the context of astrophysics or ICF.

Bio:

Dr. Michel Koenig is a French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) Research Director at the Intense Laser Laboratory (LULI), and head of the LULI HED Laboratory Astrophysics research group. He got his Master's, PhD, and Doctorat d'État (habilitation) from Pierre and Marie Curie University, where he established his expertise in studying dense and hot plasmas. He has directly supervised over 20 PhD students in the last 25 years, and a significant number of them are still engaged in academic research, several of whom have been highly awarded. He has over 300 publications, 65 invited talks at international conferences, and an h-index of 40. He received the PPCF Dendy Europe-Asia Pacific Award for Outstanding Research Collaboration in Plasma Physics in 2019, and the Alfvén Prize from the European Physical Society in 2025.