Research Topics list of research achivements
I am interested in plasma physics in extreme conditions.
In space, we can find various physical situations which are not realized on the Earth.
Although we have already had plenty of observational data (electromagnetic, particles, neutrinos and gravitational waves!) of many astrophysical objects, we have not told a theoretical story which explains all the observational data consistently for most of the objects.
I am studying the following astrophysical objects.
Pulsars
Pulsars are discovered in 1967 as a pulsating radio object and are eventually recognized as strongly magnetized neutron stars.
The most challenging problem of pulsar physics is a mechanism of the radio emission from them.
The radio emission is extremely bright and then pulsars are interpreted as natural laser facilities.
We are studying nonlinear plasma processes, which would occur around pulsars, in order to reveal the radio emission mechanism in a unique way using the latest laser facilities in laboratories (Figure 1).
Pulsar Wind Nebulae
Pulsars release their rotational energy by the relativistic plasma outflow, called pulsar wind.
As a result, the pulsar is surrounded by a cloud of plasma released by itself.
These clouds around a pulsar are called pulsar wind nebulae.
Pulsar wind nebulae are recognized as a relativistically hot, extremely rarefied, magnetized cloud because they shine from radio through high-energy gamma-rays.
We are studying the multi-wavelength emission from pulsar wind nebulae in order to investigate the launching mechanism of pulsar winds.
Winds from low-mass stars
It is well-known that the solar wind outflows from the Sun.
The fully ionized solar wind plasma pushes aside the partially ionized interstellar plasma and forms heliosphere extending about 100 times of the distance between the Sun and the Earth.
Because the Sun is a typical low-mass star in our galaxy, we expect that the other low-mass stars also have astrosphere around them.
We are studying the structures of astrosphere around low-mass stars focusing on the unique interaction between fully and partially ionized plasma (Figure 2).
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