SFB 1491: Cosmic Interacting Matters - From Source to Signal

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Throughout the last century, the field of astrophysical research has undergone striking changes, widening the detection window, now ranging from radio wavelengths to the highest gamma-ray energies. Other messengers such as charged particles and atomic nuclei, neutrinos, and gravitational waves have successfully been added in recent years as valuable messengers of the non-thermal Universe. A unifying view of the cosmic interplay of matter and radiation can only be achieved by systematically bridging the fields of plasma, astroparticle, particle, and astrophysics. This is the central research goal in the planned CRC 1491.This CRC, Cosmic Interacting Matters (CIM), is organized in two research areas. The area Astrophysical Signatures of Cosmic Ray Propagation and Interaction (A) will provide the basis for a detailed theoretical description of the non-thermal signatures of astrophysical sources for different types of galactic systems. These results will be interpreted in CIM in light of recent observational data, most of which will be taken within CIM. Research in this area will benefit greatly from investigations in the research area Fundamental properties of matter (F). Here, fundamental aspects of the plasma (magnetic turbulence, transport, and instabilities), hadronic interactions (hadronic cross sections and decay products at high energies and in forward direction), and dark matter in low-mass galactic systems build the basis for CIM.In CIM, we will address the following key research questions:1. What are the signatures of the interplay between magnetized, turbulent astrophysical plasmas and cosmic rays, and what can they tell us about the origin of cosmic rays?2. What are the implications of precision measurements of hadronic interactions at the highest energies for the astrophysical cosmic-ray signatures?3. What are the connections between the cosmic signatures of baryonic and dark matter, moving down to the lowest halo masses and out to large galactocentric distances?CIM leverages a unique combination of expertise in plasma-, astro-, astroparticle- and astrophysics present in the research landscape of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), joining forces with colleagues from neighboring universities (Dortmund and Wuppertal). By combining theoretical endeavors with key observations, we will take the understanding of the interplay of fundamental aspects of matter in the non-thermal Universe to a new level, and decisively tackle fundamental physics questions of the 21st century.