SHINE Postdoc: Signatures of Heliospheric Topology

这项研究将集中在产生太阳风电子种群特征的物理现象上，通常被称为“热通量衰减”（HFD）。了解导致HFDs的原因很重要，因为磁场线与太阳分离的程度是一种诊断工具，能够区分在22年太阳活动周期中太阳磁场如何逆转的不同模型。将进行数据分析和理论课程。对Wind航天器HFD数据的调查将为太阳风结构背景下HFD频率和形态的统计研究提供基础。一项补充性的合作理论研究将解决HFDs的俯仰角各向同性是否归因于对等离子体β敏感的不稳定性，而不依赖于总通量的变化。

This study will focus on the physical phenomena that give rise to a signature in the population of solar wind electrons commonly referred to as a "heat flux dropout" (HFD). Understanding what causes HFDs is important because the degree to which magnetic field lines are disconnected from the sun is a diagnostic tool capable of distinguishing between competing models of how the sun's magnetic field reverses over the course of the 22-year solar cycle. A program of data analysis and theory will be performed. A survey of HFD data from the Wind spacecraft will provide a base for statistical studies of HFD frequency and morphology in the context of solar wind structures. A complementary collaborative theoretical study will address the question of whether pitch-angle isotropy in the HFDs is attributable to instabilities sensitive to the plasma beta, independent of variations in the total flux.