Theoretical Studies of Interplanetary Magnetic Fields, Turbulence, and Cosmic Rays

太阳对地球和行星以及整个行星际空间的影响的一个重要部分是由太阳风及其嵌入的磁场施加的。尽管在理解这些效应方面取得了重大进展，但仍然存在很大的差距，这为理论研究提供了丰富的领域，以补充许多正在进行的实验项目。越来越多的观测数据使我们发现了陆地环境与行星际介质状态之间新的、微妙的、显然是基本的关系。例如，已经提出了宇宙射线对全球电力的可能影响。第二个例子是太阳周期对地球环境的影响。目前尚不清楚在太阳活动周期中，太阳的哪些辐射会发生变化，也不清楚它们是如何变化的。因此，对行星际介质行为的持续研究对于牢固理解日地关系至关重要。这笔拨款将支持继续对行星际介质的性质和行为进行理论研究的计划，重点是日地关系。重点将放在太阳风的大尺度结构，它的磁场，以及它的波动和湍流的各种表现。特别是，将研究大尺度磁场结构对宇宙射线加速、传播和各向异性的影响。作为这项工作的一部分，将获得一个太阳工作站，以方便超级计算机的访问，从而实现粒子在星际介质中传播的大规模数值模拟。研究人员在这个研究领域是非常合格的。

An important part of the sun's influence on the Earth and planets, and on processes throughout interplanetary space, is exerted by the solar wind and its embedded magnetic field. Although significant progress has been made toward understanding these effects, wide gaps remain which provide fertile areas for theoretical research to complement the many ongoing experimental programs. The growing collection of observational data is leading to the discovery of new, subtle, and apparently fundamental relationships between the terrestrial environment and the state of the interplanetary medium. For example, possible influences of cosmic rays on global electricity have been proposed. A second example is the existence of solar-cycle effects on Earth's environment. It is not yet precisely clear just which of the sun's emissions vary over the course of a solar cycle nor is it clear how they vary. For this reason, continued investigation of the behavior of the interplanetary medium is central to a firm understanding of solar-terrestrial relationships. This grant will support continuation of a program of theoretical investigations into the properties and behavior of the interplanetary medium, with emphasis on solar-terrestrial relationships. Emphasis will be placed on the large-scale structure of the solar wind, its magnetic field, and the various manifestations of its fluctuations and turbulence. In particular, the effect of large scale magnetic field structure on cosmic ray acceleration, propagation and anisotropies will be studied. As part of this effort a Sun workstation will be acquired to facilitate supercomputer access and hence large scale numerical modelling of particle propagation in the interplanetary medium. The investigators are highly qualified in this research area.