Astrophysical Plasma Instabilities Driven by Radiative Cooling in the Laboratory

Explore astrophysical plasma instabilities driven by radiative cooling through this 22-minute conference talk by Pablo Bilbao from Técnico Lisboa. Discover how radiative cooling processes trigger instabilities in astrophysical plasmas, with particular focus on laboratory investigations that can provide insights into extreme plasma conditions found around black holes and neutron stars. Learn about the fundamental physics underlying these cooling-driven instabilities and their relevance to understanding spectacular astrophysical phenomena such as Fast Radio Bursts and black hole accretion processes. Examine the connections between laboratory plasma experiments and the extreme relativistic, radiative environments present in exotic astrophysical objects. Gain insights into how classic nonlinear plasma processes like magnetic reconnection and shocks operate under conditions where relativistic, radiative, and quantum electrodynamic effects become significant. Understand the interdisciplinary approach required to study these phenomena, combining theoretical astrophysics, plasma physics, computational modeling, and experimental techniques. This presentation is part of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics conference on extreme plasmas, which brings together researchers from observational and theoretical high-energy astrophysics, plasma theory, computational physics, and laboratory plasma experiments to advance understanding of plasma behavior in the most extreme environments in the universe.