MSV-2035 Astronomy Document - Inside Design - FINAL - FINAL

Astronomy & Astrophysics 107 9 SYNERGY WITH OTHER RESEARCH AREAS Astronomy &Astrophysics research utilises basic understanding from diverse areas like physics, chemistry, biology, statistics and simulations using advanced computing techniques etc. The observational facilities, data management, processing and analysis also utilise a wide range of advanced technologies. Thus it is natural to expect that advancements in astronomy & astrophysics research will have huge implications for research programmes in other areas, and vice versa. Here we flag some areas of synergies with other research areas. 9.1 LaboratoryAstrophysics With the advancement of technology to conduct complex experiments in laboratories and for basic understanding of different astrophysical phenomena, the community has realised that it will be possible to recreate certain astrophysical conditions in the laboratory in a controlled manner. For example, creating a Big Bang like situation by colliding gold particles at super-high speed in ion colliders, or growing dust particles in a low density environment to understand cosmic dust etc., are very useful for advancing our understanding of various astronomical observations. Such experiments are referred to as “Laboratory Astrophysics”. These laboratory experiments not only allow us to understand various known astrophysical conditions better but also allow us to simulate many astrophysical conditions not understood so far in terms of known models of physics. As understanding astrophysical phenomena requires a multi-disciplinary approach, laboratory astrophysics will cover a wide range of subjects like nuclear astrophysics, atomic physics, astro-chemistry, astro-biology and high energy astrophysics and plasma experiments. The importance of laboratory astrophysics and related multi-disciplinary studies goes beyond understanding just the cosmic evolution. Advancement in materials science has enabled the development of many new detectors capable of working at different wavelengths to detect very faint astrophysical signals. Developments in the field of computer science have made us capable of simulating various physical conditions to understand the astrophysical phenomena in great detail. Considering the overall scenario, laboratory astrophysics is an emergingmulti-disciplinary area. 9.2 Laboratory Plasma Physics Laboratory plasma physics, for example with plasma confinement devices, is expected to play a critical role in fusion plasma as a source of energy and there is a strong synergy between this field and plasma astrophysics and magnetohydrodynamics in the context of solar plasma and beyond. Such studies involving both numerical simulations and laboratory plasma experiments will benefit both plasma astrophysics and India's involvement in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, which focuses on replicating fusion processes in the Sun for energy production on Earth. 9.3 NuclearAstrophysics Some of the most fundamental questions in science that are related to nuclear reactions inside stars, sequence of stellar evolution, nature of the first stars and their nucleosynthetic signatures, and the origin of elements can only be addressed using multi-disciplinary collaborative research between nuclear physicists and astrophysicists. While theoretical studies in the area of nuclear astrophysics have been undertaken, laboratory nuclear astrophysics is an area MEGA SCIENCE VISION-2035