Multi-Dimensional Simulations of Double Layers, Ion Phase Space Holes, and Ion Acoustic Solutions Observed in the Magnetosphere and Ionosphere

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。在整个地球等离子体环境中，包括极光电离层，磁层区域（例如，尖点、磁鞘和磁尾），以及太阳风。这里提出的研究工作将解决的结构和演化的离子空穴，双层，和离子声孤子等离子体条件相关的极光向上电流区域。使用多维粒子细胞代码，PI将解决一些长期存在的问题，即在多个相空间维度的磁场中倾斜双层的稳定性，包括垂直离子加热如何影响双层的演变以及2D双层是否是准稳定的。 最后，研究了离子空穴和离子声孤子的演化与双电层演化的关系。本提案中提出的研究机会将提供给约翰布朗大学（JBU）的数学和科学本科生。这些机会将使学生能够从事世界一流的研究，参加国家会议，并与国家实验室，大型研究型大学和工业界的研究人员互动。此外，这项研究提供了一个桥梁之间的JBU，主要致力于本科教育的文科大学，和科罗拉多大学，博尔德通过PI的合作者。最后，作为本研究结果开发的PIC代码将产生更广泛的影响，因为PI将使用该代码解决与基本电动力学相关的问题，并将这些结果纳入JBU的一些物理课程。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Localized bipolar electric field pulses have been observed by many satellite missions throughout Earth's plasma environment including the auroral ionosphere, regions of the magnetosphere (e.g., the cusp, the magnetosheath, and the magnetotail), and in the solar wind. The research effort proposed here will address the structure and evolution of ion holes,double layers, and ion acoustic solitons in plasma conditions relevant to the auroral upward current region. Using a multidimensional particle-in-cell code, The PI will address some long-standing questions regarding the stability of oblique double layers in a magnetic field in multiple phase space dimensions, including an investigation of how perpendicular ion heating affects the evolution of the double layer and whether a 2D double layer is quasi-stable. Finally, the evolution of ion holes and ion acoustic solitons will be studied in relation to the double layer evolution. The research opportunities presented in this proposal will be accessible to math and science undergraduate students at John Brown University (JBU). These opportunities will allow students to engage in world class research, attend national conferences and interact with researchers at national laboratories, larger research universities, and those in industry. Furthermore, this research provides a bridge between JBU, a liberal arts university devoted primarily to undergraduate education, and the University of Colorado, Boulder through the PIs collaborators. Finally, the PIC code that is developed as a results of this research will have a broader impact since the PI will use the code to solve problems related to basic electrodynamics and incorporate these results into some of the physics courses at JBU.