Scientists find vital clues to identify energy source

Scientists find vital clues to identify energy source

PUNE: In a breakthrough to understanding the high energy Gamma-rays and its evolution, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) Professor Surajit Paul, who is a Visiting Associate at Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), has for the first time revealed the entire process of production of cosmic rays in the galaxy clusters.

While speaking with this newspaper, Paul said, “We know very little about the energy evolution in these systems. Hence, studying the complete event of energy evolution during the cluster formation is necessary to pinpoint where to look into. Therefore, the results from the study intrigue further investigation on making proper selection strategies for a successful Gamma-ray detection from clusters and thus giving important insight into this long-standing puzzle of non-detection of Gamma rays in clusters.”

“The detection was made possible due to high-performance supercomputing systems available at IUCAA,” he said.

“No scientific observation till now has conclusively identified galaxy clusters as the high energy Gamma-ray sources, even with the most sensitive Gamma-ray telescopes in the world such as FERMI-LAT, HESS, MAGIC, etc. The non-detection was either explained by low resolution and sensitivity of the available instruments or due to the inadequate understanding of the particle acceleration mechanisms. But, they found out that the problem lies with the wrong choice of targets for deeper studies,” he said.

IUCAA Director Somak Raychaudhury said, “The Earth receives some very high energy particles called cosmic rays, which bombard the Earth’s atmosphere and the most energetic ones reach the surface of the Earth. We have been studying these for the past century and we know that many come from the Sun. However, the source of the highest energy particles has always been a mystery and it is clear that they originate in the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. I am glad that our computers, such as the ones at IUCAA Pune, are now powerful enough that simulations of the highest energy events in the Universe can be performed to check whether these ultra-high-energy particles are coming from them.”

This research was possible because of the availability of the huge computational facility of High-Performance Computing of IUCAA.

Paul and his student Reju Sam John, earlier from the University of Pondicherry and now a postdoctoral research fellow at IUCAA, said, “It means a lot when you produce cutting-edge science after extensive use of your systems available in national research institutions like IUCAA. This experience strengthened our confidence to test and build the indigenous capabilities to meet global standards.”

A research group led by Paul processed their codes in the IUCAA HPC facility and produced the highest ever resolved cosmological simulations in India. This type of simulation is also among the top few in the world in the context of the study of the formation of large scale structures existing in the universe. The highest resolution realisations used for this study took about three months with 1,000 CPUs working in parallel.

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