GEM: Experimental Identification of Plasma Wave Modes in Vicinity of Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) Vortices and in Plasma 'Mixing' Regions in Low Latitude Boundary Layer

这个项目的重点是了解太阳风和地球磁场之间边界的动力学。电磁波和带电粒子之间的相互作用导致粒子加热是一个普遍的过程，但近地空间是目前唯一一个可以在自然存在的尺度上进行现场测量的等离子体物理实验室。在磁层中考察这个问题将有助于深入了解太阳日冕加热问题。这可以使更大的空间和天体物理学团体受益，而不仅仅是磁层物理学的直接领域。该项目将资助并参与欧洲研究联盟本科生的夏季研究项目，并资助一名女性博士生，为期3年。为了加强对低纬边界层（LLBL）非绝热离子和电子跨尺度加热从磁流体力学（MHD）到离子到电子尺度的起源的认识，将离子回旋加速器频率扩展到电子尺度以上的等离子体波进行识别。这些将在有和没有同时开尔文亥姆霍兹（KH）活动的“混合”间隔内进行检查，并研究粒子分布中可能的自由能量来源，以及微观电子和离子速度梯度，这些可以首次用磁层多尺度（MMS）任务的数据来解决。本提案的目的是解决在LLBL中观测到的高频波是什么，它们的特征和与周围等离子体条件的关系是什么，以及它们在离子和电子加热中的作用。虽然提出的工作解决了目前在全球MHD代码中被忽视的微观尺度物理问题，但它将有助于理解流体尺度KH和动力学尺度波之间的相互依存关系，以及这些动力学尺度波如何改变周围等离子体的性质。环境等离子体特性是决定重联效率和太阳风-磁层耦合的关键。因此，这项研究与理解开发更好的全球空间天气和磁层模型所需要考虑的物理学高度相关。

This project focuses on understanding the dynamics of the boundary between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field. The interactions between electromagnetic waves and charged particles that result in heating of the particles is a universal process, but the near-Earth space is currently the only plasma physics laboratory where the physics can be studied with in-situ measurements in naturally existing scales. Examining this problem in the magnetosphere will provide insight into the solar coronal heating problem. This can benefit the larger space- and astrophysics community beyond the immediate field of magnetospheric physics. The PI is a tenured female physics professor and the project will fund and involve ERAU undergraduate students in summer research program and fund a female Ph.D student, for 3 years. In order to enhance understanding of the origin of the cross-scale non-adiabatic ion and electron heating at the Low Latitude Boundary Layer (LLBL) from magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to ion to electron scales, plasma waves will be identified above ion cyclotron frequency extending to electron scales. These will be examined during 'mixed' intervals with and without simultaneous Kelvin Helmholtz (KH) activity, and study the possible free sources of energy in particle distributions, and in microscopic electron and ion velocity gradients that can for the first time be resolved with the data from Magnetosphere Multi-Scale (MMS) mission. The objectives of this proposal are to address what the observed higher frequency waves in the LLBL are, what their characteristics and relation to ambient plasma conditions are, and what their role is in ion and electron heating. While the proposed work addresses the micro-scale physics, which is currently neglected in global MHD codes, it will help understand the interdependence between fluid scale KH and kinetic scale waves as well as how these kinetic scale waves modify the ambient plasma properties. The ambient plasma properties are crucial in determining the reconnection efficiency and solar wind-magnetosphere coupling. The study is therefore highly relevant for understanding the physics that needs to be taken into account for developing better global space weather and magnetospheric models.