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Supernova radiation simulated in Virtual Reality

December 20, 2001

To astrophysicists, the energy-charged x-ray radiation on the fringes of a supernova explosion has long been enigmatic. It hasn't been possible to explain how the electrons are able to accelerate to nearly the speed of light. Now scientists in England and in Linköping, Sweden, have hit upon a possible explanation by combining supercomputer calculations and VR simulations.
When a supernova explodes, a cloud of plasma and gas is thrown out in space. The enigmatic x-ray radiation arises on the circumference of this plasma cloud.

Researchers from Linköping University, the University of Warwick, and the Culham Science Centre have tested an idea that was first put forward by two American physicists in the 1980s. The idea was that a strong magnetic field and a wave of radiation from a laser would be able to create a new sort of particle accelerator. This was dubbed the "surfatron," since the particles would be able to ride the wave like surfers atop an ocean breaker. However, unlike the surfer, the particles would never have to slow down but would rather be able to increase their speed almost infinitely.

The Swedish and British scientists simulated a situation similar to that of the expansion of plasma from a supernova and found that the "surfatron theory" actually can explain the rapid x-ray radiation.

"The simulations required supercomputing power and produced immense quantities of data, up to one terrabyte per simulation. We processed these data with a specially developed visualization tool that can deal with large time series. The tool transformed the information to Virtual Reality images."

"In that way it has ultimately been possible to 'step into' the plasma simulation and see the x-ray radiation around you in 3D- form," says Professor Anders Ynnerman. His background is in astrophysics, and he is Director of both the National Supercomputer Center in Linköping and the University's VR Laboratory in Norrköping.

Anders Ynnerman and his associate Dr. Mark Dieckmann see the combination of supercomputing power and VR programs as a valuable aid in astrophysics research. It often involves enormous quantities of information that are far too large to be analyzed in a traditional manner and that become manageable only after being transformed into 3D images.

Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council)