François De OLIVEIRA SANTOS

40, Physicist



Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds (GANIL)



CEA-DSM/CNRS-IN2P3



 

At the heart of a virtual Sun 


Although my job is in fundamental physics, I am fully conscious of the prospective applications of my work.


At the heart of the Sun, temperatures and densities are extremely high: of the order of 15 billion degrees and 100 grams per cubic centimeter! Under such conditions, atoms undergo fusion reactions. Although my job is in fundamental physics, I am fully conscious of the prospective applications of my work for the energy of the future. We try to understand what is happening within stars, in particular the Sun: what becomes of it now and will become of it later, since it will continue to shine for another 5 billion years? Researchers try to sound it, and look at what is going on inside by the minute. At GANIL [Large National Heavy Ion Accelerator], we are more into theory: we do modeling. Natural nuclear reactions may be reproduced on Earth and measured with the accelerator. Assumptions about what must be going on within the Sun are tested. Although all possible doors are left open (and unexpected discoveries may lie ahead), we believe that nearly 99% of what is happening in our star is already known.




Image copyright: F.CASTEL