The Flash Center for Computational Science has been home to several cross-disciplinary computational research projects in its 20-year existence. Anchoring our work is the FLASH code, an open radiation MHD simulation code for plasma physics and astrophysics with a wide international user base. Research projects include the on-going development of the FLASH code, the study of astrophysical processes mediated by magnetic fields, HPC simulation campaigns on the largest supercomputers in the world, and our breakthrough Laboratory Astrophysics experiments at the world's largest laser facilities. READ MORE ABOUT US IN PHYSICS TODAY...

NEWS -- THE RELEASE OF FLASH 4.7

The Flash Center Code Group is pleased to announce the release of an updated version of the FLASH code: FLASH 4.7! The DOWNLOAD is available to all with a username and password. For new users, or to update your email address, please initiate a CODE REQUEST.
Read more about the release HERE, as well as at the website of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics of the University of Rochester.

NEWS -- RESEARCHERS UNRAVEL THE INNER WORKINGS OF HEAT CONDUCTION IN GALAXY CLUSTERS

News Release on EurekAlert!, By Clea Boorman, University of Oxford, March 9, 2022
The inner workings of heat conduction in galaxy clusters have been unravelled by a collaboration of international researchers led by the University of Oxford, University of Rochester and the University of Chicago... Read here the University of Oxford press release, as well as the press releases from the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the University of Rochester, the University of Chicago, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the experiments took place.
*Also read our paper in Science Advances

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER MOVES TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

We are pleased and excited to announce that, as of October 25, 2021, the Flash Center for Computational Science officially moved from the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Chicago to the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Rochester! Read more about the move HERE, as well as the University of Rochester, the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, and the LaserNetUS websites.

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER DIRECTOR RECEIVES EARLY CAREER AWARD FROM U.S. DOE OFFICE OF SCIENCE

The Flash Center's Director, Petros Tzeferacos received a research award from the Department of Energy’s Early Career Research program, in support of the Center's research in high-energy-density (HED) magnetized plasma turbulence. Read more about it HERE on LLE's website.

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTED BY ALCF

ALCF News Center, By Nils Heinonen, November 1, 2021
ALCF simulations inform groundbreaking experiments to study cosmic magnetic fields... READ THE HIGHLIGHT HERE...

NEWS -- LASER-DRIVEN EXPERIMENTS PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THE FORMATION OF THE UNIVERSE

UR Newscenter, By Lindsey Valich, March 11, 2021
Laser-driven experiments conducted on the OMEGA laser at the University of Rochester capture for the first time in a laboratory setting the time history of the growth of magnetic fields by the turbulent dynamo... READ HERE THE PRESS RELEASE...
*Also read our paper in PNAS

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER LEADS UR CAPABILITY TEAM FOR ARPA-E BETHE

The Flash Center's Director, Petros Tzeferacos was awarded $2 million to provide ARPA-E BETHE projects with theory and modeling capabilities for new fusion experiments and concepts. Read more about it HERE on UR's Newscenter.

NEWS -- PSD SPOTLIGHT: Ellen Harder

The Flash Center's Business Administrator Ellen Harder is in the Spotlight HERE on UChicago's Physical Sciences Division Website.

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER TEAM AWARDED 2019 DAWSON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PLASMA PHYSICS RESEARCH

APS NEWS, July 12, 2019
PETROS TZEFERACOS and DONALD LAMB are among the recipients of the American Physical Society’s 2019 Dawson Award for their “innovative experiments that demonstrate turbulent dynamo in the laboratory, establishing laboratory experiments as a component in the study of turbulent magnetized plasmas, and opening a new path to laboratory investigations of other astrophysical processes.”

NEWS -- THE RELEASE OF FLASH 4.6

The Flash Center Code Group is pleased to announce the release of an updated version of the FLASH code: FLASH 4.6! The DOWNLOAD is available to all with a username and password. For new users, or to update your email address, please initiate a CODE REQUEST.

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER TURNS 20, WELCOMES NEW DIRECTOR

UChicago PSD Press Release, October 29, 2018
As The Flash Center celebrates its 20th anniversary, Research Assistant Professor Petros Tzeferacos steps into his new role as Director.
READ THE ARTICLE AT THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES DIVISION WEBSITE

NEWS -- ASTROPHYSICISTS SETTLE CENTURY-OLD COSMIC DEBATE ON MAGNETISM OF PLANETS AND STARS

UChicago News, By Robert Mitchum, February 9, 2018
Flash Center astrophysicists demonstrate turbulent dynamo, the mechanism thought to generate cosmic magnetic fields, using world’s most powerful lasers... READ THE ARTICLE AT UCHICAGO NEWS...
*Also read our paper in NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER TEAM UNCLOAKS MAGNETIC FIELDS OF COSMIC EVENTS

UChicago News, By Robert Mitchum, January 4, 2018
Flash Center and MIT scientists describe a new method for acquiring quantitative, high-resolution information about magnetic fields... READ THE ARTICLE AT UCHICAGO NEWS...
*Also read our paper in REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS

NEWS -- THE RELEASE OF FLASH 4.5

The Flash Center Code Group is pleased to announce the release of an updated version of the FLASH code: FLASH 4.5! This update has a moderate amount of changes from FLASH 4.4, and a number of new features. The DOWNLOAD is available to all with a username and password. For new users, or to update your email address, please initiate a CODE REQUEST.

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER EXPERIMENTS USING THE OMEGA LASER SYSTEMS

VIEW A PHOTO HERE of the team at the National Laser Users Facility and the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester.

NEWS -- FLASH CENTER STUDYING ORIGIN OF COSMIC MAGNETIC FIELDS USING OMEGA LASER

Magnetic fields are everywhere in the universe, from the Sun and other stars, to galaxies and clusters of galaxies. But the origin of these magnetic fields, and why they are as strong as they are, remain a mystery. Nonlinear amplification of seed magnetic fields by turbulence is a widely invoked explanation for how cosmic magnetic fields become as strong as we observe them to be. But this mechanism – which is called the turbulent dynamo – has never been demonstrated in the laboratory.

Now, an international team of scientists led by the Flash Center for Computational Science has been awarded time at the Omega laser – one of the most powerful lasers in the world – to create a magnetized turbulent plasma and see if the seed magnetic fields are amplified by an enormous amount, as scientists have postulated. To do this, the team fires intense lasers at two targets, creating two plasma jets that each flow through a grid and become turbulent. The jets then collide, making the plasma even more turbulent. The experiment is expected to produce magnetic Reynolds numbers Rm > 1000 – far greater than the value Rm > 200 theorists say is needed for the turbulent dynamo mechanism to work.

The international scientific team conducting the experiment includes members from the University of Oxford, UK; the University of Rochester; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Ecole Polytechnique, France; and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Korea; as well as the Flash Center at the University of Rochester. The experiment at the Omega laser and the Flash Center’s research in high energy density physics are both supported by the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration.

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