
FABIO BACCHINI

Since 2022, I am an Assistant Professor at the Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics (CmPA) of KU Leuven and a Research Scientist at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA/IASB), both in Belgium. In my research, I actively develop, code, and apply numerical techniques for magnetohydrodynamic and particle simulations of Newtonian and (special/general) relativistic plasmas in astrophysics. I make use of the most advanced supercomputers in the world to perform those simulations on hundreds of thousands of CPUs. Together with my research group, I aim at pushing the boundaries of the state of the art in theoretical astroplasma physics.
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Take a look at my publications and do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss my research!
PAPER HIGHLIGHTS
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Bacchini, F., Gorbunov, E.A., Péters de Bonhome, M., Els, P., Argyropoulos, K.-X., Ly, M.N., Grošelj, D. (2026), Particle-in-Cell Methods for Simulations of Sheared, Expanding, or Escaping Astrophysical Plasma, submitted to PPCF. Preprint: arXiv:2602.15939​
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Lin, R., Bacchini, F., He, J., Pezzini, L., Peng, J. (2025), Generation of proton beams at switchback boundary-like rotational discontinuities in the solar wind, accepted in ApJ. Preprint: arXiv:2512.10406
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Reisinger, N., Bacchini, F. (2025), Comparing Simulated and Observed Particle Energy Distributions through Magnetic Reconnection in Earth's Magnetotail, accepted in A&A:L. Preprint: arXiv:2509.07621
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Mora, C., Bacchini, F., Keppens, R. (2026), Non-thermal electron acceleration in turbulent, post-flare coronal loops, A&A 706, A32. DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202557693. Preprint: arXiv:2510.18742
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Pezzini, L., Bacchini, F., Zhukov, A.N., Arrò, G., López, R.A. (2026), Alpha Core-Beam Origin in Low-β Solar Wind Plasma: Insights from Fully Kinetic Simulation, ApJ 997, 158. DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae27a3. Preprint: arXiv:2510.24274
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Granier, C., Grošelj, D., Comisso, L., Bacchini, F. (2025), Driven Collisionless Reconnection of Force-free Flux Tubes: From Onset to Coalescence, ApJ 992 193. DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae0738; Preprint: arXiv:2506.06059
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Grehan, M.P., Ghosal, T., Beattie, J.R., Ripperda, B., Porth, O., Bacchini, F. (2025), Comparison of magnetic diffusion and reconnection in ideal and resistive relativistic magnetohydrodynamics, ideal magnetodynamics and resistive force-free electrodynamics, PRD 112, 063046. DOI: 10.1103/8xf2-x2nq; Preprint: arXiv:2503.20013
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Bacchini, F., Werner, G.R., Granier, C., Vos, J. (2025), Three-dimensional Dynamics of Strongly Magnetized Ion-Electron Relativistic Reconnection, ApJL 991, L9. DOI: DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae0197; Preprint: arXiv:2507.12509
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​Gorbunov, E.A., Grošelj, D., Bacchini, F. (2025), Leaking Outside the Box: Kinetic Turbulence with Cosmic-Ray Escape, PRL 135, 065201. DOI: 10.1103/3777-z37m; Preprint: arXiv:2503.03820 [Note: PRL Editor’s Suggestion]
LATEST NEWS
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February 2026: Coverage of our work on black-hole plasma astrophysics by EuroCC Belgium: Simulating the Invisible: How Supercomputing Advances Black Hole Research
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January 2026: A Global Seed Fund awarded to our research group in collaboration with CITA and the University of Toronto
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October 2025: Two FWO PhD Fellowships awarded to Clarissa Mora and Nadja Reisinger, starting their appointments in November 2025!​​
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September 2025: Coverage of our latest PRL in Phys.org: Leaking Outside the Box: Kinetic Turbulence with Cosmic-Ray Escape
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September 2025: Dr. Nicolas Moens joins CmPA, working on the EuroHPC-SPACE project
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July-August 2025: A successful 2025 edition of the international KU Leuven Summer of Science for highschoolers​, where we give an introductory course on astroplasmas
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June 2025: Approval of our EU-funded COST Action EXPAND!
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May 2025: Two FWO Junior Postdoctoral Fellowships awarded to Dr. Camille Granier and Dr. Jesse Vos!
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February 2025: An MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to Dr. Camille Granier, starting her appointment in fall 2025!
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January 2025: Highlight of my public lecture at the Urania seminar series
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January 2025: Dr. Camille Granier joins CmPA, working on numerical simulations of high-energy plasmas around black holes
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December 2024: Dr. Paul Wilhelm joins CmPA, working on the EuroHPC-SPACE project
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October 2024: An FWO PhD Fellowship awarded to Silvia Ferro, starting her appointment in November 2024​​
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September 2024: Co-organization of the 2024 International Congress on Plasma Physics in Ghent
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August 2024: Coverage of our latest PRL in Phys.org: A first definitive demonstration of nonthermal particle acceleration in magnetorotational turbulence
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July 2024:​ Our ApJS paper highlighted in AAS NOVA: Tailor-Made Turbulence for All Your Modeling Needs
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July 2024: A successful 2024 edition of the international KU Leuven Summer of Science for highschoolers​, where we give an introductory course on astroplasmas
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June 2024: A PostDoctoral Mandate Fellowship awarded to Dr. Jesse Vos, joining our group in November 2024!
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June 2024: 1.7 million euro awarded to our KU Leuven C1 project UnderRadioSun​!​
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May 2024: An FWO Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to Dr. Nicolas Wijsen, joining our group in October 2024​​
