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Numerical Study of Interstellar Turbulence in the Exascale Era


Thesis topic details

General information

Organisation

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.

Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.

The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
  

Reference

SL-DRF-26-0280  

Direction

DRF

Thesis topic details

Category

Corpuscular physics and outer space

Thesis topics

Numerical Study of Interstellar Turbulence in the Exascale Era

Contract

Thèse

Job description

This PhD project aims to better understand interstellar medium turbulence, a key phenomenon governing the formation of stars and galactic structures. This turbulence—magnetized, supersonic, and multiphase—influences how energy is transferred and dissipated, thereby regulating the efficiency of star formation throughout the history of the Universe. Its study is complex, as it involves a wide range of spatial and temporal scales that are difficult to reproduce numerically. Advances in high-performance computing, particularly the advent of GPU-based exascale supercomputers, now make it possible to perform much more refined simulations.

The Dyablo code, developed at IRFU, will be used to carry out large-scale three-dimensional simulations with adaptive mesh refinement to resolve the regions where energy dissipation occurs. The study will progress in stages: first, simulations of simple isothermal flows will be conducted, followed by models that include heating, cooling, magnetic fields, and gravity. The turbulent properties will be analyzed using power spectra, structure functions, and density distributions, in order to better understand the formation of dense regions that give birth to stars. Finally, the work will be extended to the galactic scale, in collaboration with other French institutes, to investigate the large-scale energy cascade of turbulence across entire galaxies.

University / doctoral school

Astronomie et Astrophysique d’Île de France (ED A&A)
Paris-Saclay

Thesis topic location

Site

Saclay

Requester

Position start date

01/10/2026

Person to be contacted by the applicant

Hennebelle Patrick patrick.hennebelle@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRFU/DAP/LMPA
Orme les merisiers
0169089987

Tutor / Responsible thesis director

Hennebelle Patrick patrick.hennebelle@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRFU/DAP/LMPA
Orme les merisiers
0169089987

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