Fundamentals and Applications in Magnetism of Extraterrestrial Samples

Understanding the “conditions for planet formation” is the first item listed on the European Space Agency’s decadal plan for space sciences.

This ambitious task is particularly challenging in that asteroid and planet formation in the protoplanetary disk was influenced by a plurality of factors that can no longer be observed.

For example, magnetic fields generated by the disk or the first accreted bodies likely contributed to shaping our solar system, but are today extinct. Most experimental data inform us on the dynamics and evolution of the early solar system are collected on meteorites.

Meteorites are remnant pieces of the first accreted planetary bodies; their composition and properties hold a unique record of the conditions under which these objects formed.

In particular, the magnetization of meteorites provides unique information on the intensity of magnetic fields present in the early solar system.

However, reconciling the magnetizations measured in the laboratory with the intensities of ancient fields is one of the most challenging tasks in paleomagnetism.

With this proposal, I aim at calibrating the relationship between magnetization and field intensity for three major magnetic minerals found in meteorites.

I will subsequently use these calibrated data to build a more accurate record of the protoplanetary disk’s magnetic field.

The two-way transfer of knowledge between the host (CEREGE, France) and myself is essential to the realization of this project.

I will leverage and share my knowledge of synchrotron-based magnetic microscopy with the host team, while benefitting from their longstanding expertise in paleomagnetism, petrography and meteoritics.

After a five-year PhD in the US, I will be returning to France with the ambition to apply for permanent academic positions over the course of the fellowship, and to durably contribute to the influence of European research.