Collaborative Research: Understanding Turbulent Mixing in Laboratory Magnetospheres

合作研究：了解实验室磁层中的湍流混合

• 批准号: 1201874
• 负责人: Michael Mauel
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-15 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1201874&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Understanding; Turbulent; Mixing

This award is made in response to a proposal submitted to and reviewed under the NSF/DOE Partnership in Basic Plasma Science and Engineering joint solicitation NSF 09-596. The award provides funds to support undergraduate participation in the overall research effort, which is being funded separately by the DOE under contract to Columbia University (TBD).Plasmas constitute over 99% of the visible universe and turbulent mixing of plasmas is a fundamental process that is important both in natural and artificial situations. Turbulent mixing of ionized gas, called plasma, is especially fascinating when the plasma is embedded inside a strong magnetic force field. Mixing of magnetized plasma has special geometric relationships, couples energy from small and large sized vortex-like structures know as "eddies," and creates self-organization through a remarkable turbulent "pinch." A collaboration between two universities will operate two unique facilities, called laboratory magnetospheres, that contain high-temperature ionized gas using a magnetic force field that resembles the field that surround our Earth and other planets. New measurements will be combined with new theories and simulations that will answer unresolved questions including: How do plasma eddies couple energy at different sizes? How do plasmas evolve during turbulent mixing? What mechanisms cause turbulent self-organization? New science will advance including: (1) global imaging and control of turbulent interchange mixing in a variety of plasma conditions, (2) study of electrostatic self-organization through the understanding of the turbulent pinch, and (3) validating our models for lowfrequency turbulence by carrying out self-consistent nonlinear simulations of turbulent mixing in laboratory magnetospheres.This research has broad impact because turbulent mixing of magnetized plasma is ubiquitous and fundamental. Understanding turbulent mixing in laboratory magnetospheres will improve our understanding of (1) processes occurring in the ionosphere, which is important to satellite communication, (2) turbulence inside the central regions of planetary magnetospheres, which is important to space weather models, and (3) the anisotropic mixing of low-dimensional fluid systems, which is important to industrial processes. Additionally, this collaborative research uses state-of-the-art facilities at highly-regarded research universities to motivate students and scientists to explore plasma dynamics in a magnetic configuration that resembles a magnetosphere and to encourage the next generation of scientists able to understand and control high-temperature, ionized matter.

该奖项是为了响应向 NSF/DOE 基础等离子体科学与工程合作伙伴联合征集 NSF 09-596 提交并审查的提案而颁发的。该奖项提供资金支持本科生参与整个研究工作，该研究工作由能源部根据与哥伦比亚大学 (TBD) 的合同单独资助。等离子体构成了可见宇宙的 99% 以上，等离子体的湍流混合是一个基本过程，在自然和人造情况下都很重要。当等离子体嵌入强磁场中时，电离气体（称为等离子体）的湍流混合尤其令人着迷。磁化等离子体的混合具有特殊的几何关系，耦合来自小型和大型涡旋状结构（称为“涡流”）的能量，并通过显着的湍流“收缩”产生自组织。两所大学之间的合作将运营两个独特的设施，称为实验室磁层，其中含有高温电离气体，使用类似于地球和其他行星周围的磁场的磁力场。新的测量将与新的理论和模拟相结合，从而回答未解决的问题，包括：等离子体涡流如何耦合不同尺寸的能量？等离子体在湍流混合过程中如何演化？哪些机制导致了动荡的自组织？新科学将取得进展，包括：（1）各种等离子体条件下湍流交换混合的全局成像和控制，（2）通过理解湍流收缩来研究静电自组织，以及（3）通过在实验室磁层中进行湍流混合的自洽非线性模拟来验证我们的低频湍流模型。这项研究具有广泛的影响，因为磁化等离子体的湍流混合是 无处不在且基本。了解实验室磁层中的湍流混合将提高我们对以下方面的理解：(1) 电离层中发生的过程，这对卫星通信很重要；(2) 行星磁层中心区域内的湍流，这对空间天气模型很重要；(3) 低维流体系统的各向异性混合，这对工业过程很重要。此外，这项合作研究利用备受推崇的研究型大学的最先进设施，激励学生和科学家探索类似于磁层的磁性结构中的等离子体动力学，并鼓励下一代科学家能够理解和控制高温电离物质。