CAREER: Exploring New Regimes of Physics to Constrain the Properties of Heating in the Solar Corona

这个为期五年的CAREER项目的主要研究目标是调查太阳大气加热的物理机制。 该项目将探索具有挑战性的新物理机制，包括：（1）由于太阳加热事件期间等离子体演化的时间尺度很短而导致的非平衡电离;（2）在通过太阳大气层传输能量时必须考虑全球等离子体结构的大量热通量限制和去局部化。 拟议的研究计划有两个主要目标：（1）了解太阳日冕中几乎完全未被探索的极高温度，低密度等离子体的物理学;（2）利用所学到的知识找到日冕加热特性的强约束。 该研究方案提供了研究新的热能传输机制的机会，其中必须考虑等离子体的全球结构，并确定它如何影响太阳高层大气的总体能量平衡。 这对空间等离子体物理学的其他领域也有价值。 通过将从热辐射中了解到的知识与从热辐射中已知的知识相结合，将对日冕加热的性质施加强有力的限制。该CAREER项目的更广泛影响针对各级学生和教育工作者。 这项研究所基于的物理学主题将纳入PI教授的太阳天体物理学研究生课程，其中将专门招募一名研究生从事这一项目。 该计划还为本科生参与研究提供了机会。 该项目的一个主要部分是一个暑期学校计划的关键物理科学概念，在太阳的背景下，在休斯敦独立学区，主要是教育少数民族和社会经济弱势学生上升的大三和大四的教导。 教学模式将通过同伴指导和小组辅导。 一名高中教师将协助PI，并将根据暑期课程的结果制定课程计划和其他课程材料，以便传播给其他教师，在教育期刊上发表，在主要会议上发表，并为Connexions网站提供内容。 该职业项目的研究和EPO议程支持AGS部门在发现，学习，多样性和跨学科研究方面的战略目标。

The main research objective of this five-year CAREER project is to investigate the physical mechanisms responsible for the heating of the solar atmosphere. The project will explore challenging new regimes of physics, including: (1) non-equilibrium ionization due to the short timescales of plasma evolution during the heating events on the Sun; and, (2) substantial heat flux limiting and de-localization where the global plasma structure must be considered in the transport of energy through the solar atmosphere. The proposed research program has two primary goals: (1) learn about the physics of the almost entirely unexplored regime of very high temperature, low density plasma in the solar corona; and, (2) use what is learned to find strong constraints on the properties of coronal heating. The program of research presents the opportunity to study a new regime of thermal energy transport, in which the global structure of the plasma must be considered, and to determine how it affects the overall energy balance of the Sun's upper atmosphere. This will be of value to other areas of space plasma physics. By combining what is learned from the hot emission with what is already known from the warm emission, strong constraints will be placed on the properties of coronal heating.The broader impacts of this CAREER project target students at all levels as well as educators. The physics' topics on which this research is based will be incorporated into the solar astrophysics graduate course taught by the PI, from which a graduate student will be recruited specifically to work on this project. The program also provides opportunities for undergraduate participation in research. A major part of this project is a summer school program on key physical science concepts, taught within the context of the Sun, for rising juniors and seniors in the Houston Independent School District, which educates predominantly minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. The mode of teaching will be through peer instruction and mentoring in small groups. A high school teacher will assist the PI, and will develop lesson plans and other curriculum material based on the outcomes of the summer program for dissemination to other teachers, publication in educational journals, presentation at major conferences, and contribution to the Connexions website. The research and EPO agenda of this CAREER project supports the Strategic Goals of the AGS Division in discovery, learning, diversity, and interdisciplinary research.