Astrophysics Division
CEA Saclay

UMR Astrophysics Instrumentation Modelisation

Research laboratories

Space Systems and Architectures

The Space Systems and Architectures team is responsible for system architecture definition and technical oversight throughout the design, development, and testing of various instrument models.

Dynamics of Stars, Exoplanets and their Environment

The AIM "Dynamics of Stars, Exoplanets and their Environment" team aims to develop cutting-edge research to understand the internal and external structure, dynamics, and evolution of the Sun, stars, and planets, as well as the atmospheres of exoplanets. Additionally, the research teams study gravitational, magnetic, and radiative interactions at different scales between these celestial bodies and their environment, as well as the orbital architecture of planetary systems. This research is based on innovative and synergistic theoretical predictions, nonlinear 3D HPC simulations, observational data analysis that constrains the models, and the development of instruments for dedicated space missions (SOHO, Solar Orbiter, JWST, PLATO, and ARIEL).

Astrophysical Plasma Modelling

The Astrophysical Plasma Modeling team aims to understand astrophysical processes driven by gravity, radiative hydrodynamics, and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), and to characterize their observable consequences. Their theoretical approach is physics-centered and leverages the most suitable numerical, analytical, and experimental tools to address the complexity of turbulence, shocks, and instabilities.

Cosmology and Statistics

The theme of the Universe's energy content, primarily focused on questions of dark matter, dark energy, and gravity, is a rapidly growing activity within the Cosmology and Statistics team, reflected by leading contributions to major international collaborations.

Star Formation and Interstellar Medium

It can be argued that the astrophysical quest for our origins rests on two pillars: the formation of large structures into galaxies and the formation of stellar systems. The interstellar medium (ISM) is at the heart of this quest, as the initial conditions of protostellar and protoplanetary disks are directly inherited from the ISM, which, in turn, transmits numerous feedback mechanisms from massive stars or energetic events that punctuate the life cycle of galaxies. Research conducted by the Star Formation and Interstellar Medium team at AIM enables a coherent and self-consistent study of the ISM as a highly heterogeneous, dynamic, magnetized, and multi-phase fabric, whose signatures are detected across multiple wavelengths and at very different spatial scales. This translates directly into diversified observation techniques and a wide range of models and simulations with similar ingredients but specific and complementary focuses.

High Energy Cosmic Phenomena

The scientific objective of the High Energy Cosmic Phenomena team is the discovery, characterization, classification, and understanding—from the perspective of fundamental physics—of the most energetic and violent astrophysical phenomena. These sources are usually revealed by their radiations in the high-energy domain (X-rays and γ-rays).

Science and Space Instruments Interface

The Interface Science and Space Instruments team is at the interface between science and space instruments from design phases to operational flight. They specify instruments, develop data analysis software, and ensure that these instruments meet scientific objectives.

Quality and Space Integration

The Quality and Space Integration team supports space projects in terms of Product Assurance and Quality Assurance, as well as AIT (Assembly, Integration, and Testing) activities throughout the development and implementation phases.

Study and Development of Space Eletronic Systems

The Space Electronics Systems Design and Development team is responsible for defining, designing, and developing embedded electronic equipment. They have expertise in defining and sizing electronic system architectures, as well as in analog and digital space electronics, particularly detection chains.

Spectral-Imagers for Space science

The "Spectro-Imagers for Space" team conducts R&D on detectors ranging from the far infrared to gamma-ray wavelengths, including bolometers, microcalorimeters, CMOS-MCT, or semiconductors for X-rays and gamma rays.

Cosmology and Galaxy Evolution

The "Cosmology and Galaxy Evolution" team focuses on the study of the formation, evolution, and physical properties of large cosmological structures, galaxy clusters, galaxies themselves, and their internal structures, extending to large-scale star formation. These structures are studied across cosmic time, from the birth of the first galaxies to the closest objects today. These studies are conducted using multi-wavelength observations with state-of-the-art observatories (ALMA, JWST, VLT, IRAM, and Euclid), complemented by advanced cosmological and galaxy evolution simulations using Europe's largest supercomputers. Continuous interaction between observations and simulations is sought to maximize data interpretation and provide the best constraints for structure formation models.

Presentation

Department of Astrophysics (DAp) // UMR AIM

A major space laboratory

The Astrophysics Department, UMR AIM within IRFU, is one of the major space laboratories in France, at the European and international levels. In direct collaboration with CNES, which oversees the space activities of French laboratories, it is heavily involved in the space missions of ESA's Cosmic Vision scientific program, as well as in bilateral missions led by CNES.

The development of astrophysics at CEA began in partnership with CNES from its inception in the early 1960s. Astrophysics is a rapidly growing science due to its high potential for discoveries. Increasingly numerous and powerful instruments, both ground-based and satellite-based, allow us to probe the universe with enhanced angular resolution and sensitivity across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. At the same time, modeling, particularly through numerical simulations, is becoming increasingly important in astrophysics; astrophysical problems are often complex and involve other disciplines of physics. Astrophysics and other fields of physics enrich each other mutually.

Our scientific projects

A mission dedicated to the study of gamma ray bursts

The SVOM Mission (Space based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor) is a chinese and french project dedicated to the detection and detailed study of GRBs. The launch of the satellite is planned for the beginning of the next decade. Strong bursts of high-energy photons attributed to the explosion of massive stars or to the merger of two neutron stars, gamma-ray bursts are a powerful tool to probe the Universe at very distant times and to study physics in extreme conditions. They are also the most favorable candidates as counterparts of sources of gravitational waves and high-energy neutrinos, two rapidly expanding fields of research.

The fleeting nature of the phenomenon and the need to observe it simultaneously in a widest involve spectral band require appropriate equipments. The SVOM mission by providing a range of telescopes in space and on the ground sensitive from gamma rays to infrared light meets this objective. This complementarity of instruments is unique and will allow a detailed study of gamma-ray bursts, from the prompt emission to the afterglow.

An infrared spectrometer of the CASSINI probe

The Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS for "Composite InfraRed Spectrometer") is one of the instruments on board the Cassini probe. The Cassini probe was inserted in orbit around Saturn on July 2004, six and half years after its launch. The spectrometer was built as a joint effort of CEA-Dapnia, the Goddard Space Flight Center at Washington, the Oxford University, the Queen Mary’s College In UK and the Paris Observatory.

This instrument allows to analyze the infrared light emitted by the planet Saturn but also by its famous rings and satellites, with a resolution (sharpness of details) and sensibility much better than that of its precursor : the IRIS instrument embarked on the VOYAGER probe in the 80s.

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