High Energy Astrophysics group

Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri

The Group

The high-energy astrophysics group in Arcetri was founded by Franco Pacini and is one of the leading italian reserch group in the field of non-thermal particle acceleration, cosmic rays, relativistic fluid dynamics, and supernova remnants. The group is mostly involved in theroretical modelling of astrophysical objects and processes, with a focus on numerical simulations. The various are involved in different projects at the national and international level, ranging from theoretical investigation of key astrophysical processes to the developement of the science for the next generation gamma and X-ray telescopes. The group has a long standing collaboration with the Università degli Studi di Firenze and the local plasma physics group.

Ongoing Projects - Grants

INAF THEORY GRANT 2025: SCARFACE II - star clusters as cosmic ray factories II (PI G. Morlino)

INAF MINI GRANTS 2024: HYPNOTIC87A hidden pulsar nebula occupying the Inner core of 87A (PI B.Olmi) - Probing young massive stellar clusters as cosmic ray factories (PI S. Menchiari)

PRIN MUR 2022: Unveiling the footprints of the cosmic ray journey through the Galaxy and beyond (PI E. Amato - cofunded by EU through PNRR)

Extract of our recent papers

Origin of the spectral features observed in the cosmic-ray spectrum Recchia S., Gabici S., Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 692, id.A20, 22 pp., December 2024
Different spectra of cosmic ray H, He, and heavier nuclei escaping compact star clusters Blasi P. & Morlino G., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 533, Issue 1, pp.561-571, September 2024
On the Correlation between Young Massive Star Clusters and Gamma-Ray Unassociated Sources Peron G., Morlino G, Gabici S., Amato E., Purushothaman A, Brusa M., The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 972, Issue 2, id.L22, 11 pp., September 2024
Detection prospects of very and ultra high-energy gamma rays from extended sources with ASTRI, CTA and LHAASO Celli S. & Peron G., Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 689, id.A258, 22 pp., September 2024
Synchrotron polarization with a partially random magnetic field: General approach and application to X-ray polarization from supernova remnants Bandiera R. & Petruk O., Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 689, id.A137, 14 pp., September 2024
The IXPE Science of Pulsar and Their Nebulae Bucciantini N., Romani R. W., Xie F, Wong J., Galaxies, Volume 12, Issue 4, id.45, August 2024

Recent Projects - Grants

INAF MINI-GRANT 2022: PWNnumpol numerical studies of PWNe in the light of IXPE (PI N. Bucciantini)

INAF THEORY GRANT 2022: SCARFACE star clusters as cosmic ray factories (PI G. Morlino)

PRIN INAF 2019: From massive stars to supernovae and supernova remnants: driving mass, energy and cosmic rays in our Galaxy (PI S. Orlando)

INAF MAINSTREAM 2019: Interventi aggiuntivi di sostegno della ricerca di main stream di INAF

ASI 2019: On the escape of cosmic rays and thier impact on the background plasma (PI E. Amato)

ASI 2018: A modern approach to Cosmic Ray transport in the Galaxy (PI P. Blasi)