Modeling Physical Processes in the Solar Wind and Local Interstellar Medium with Multi-Scale Fluid-Kinetic Simulation Suite

这项提议的目的是利用蓝水超级计算机提供的可能性来模拟基本的和具有挑战性的空间物理问题。日光层是由太阳控制的球状空间区域，远远超出冥王星的轨道。太阳风由来自太阳的电离原子组成。该项目将模拟日光层内外的西南气流，并将结果与观测数据进行比较。预计该项目将在复杂带电和中性气体系统的模拟方面取得飞跃。此外，提出的利用多种算法技术对复杂代码进行计算资源管理的方法有望成为对现有方法的重大改进。资源管理技术的发展将对未来所有包含广泛不同尺度和物理过程的建模工作至关重要。对具有多或高度局域尺度和多过程特征的部分电离等离子体流动的分析将对太阳物理学产生革命性的影响。该项目将研究太阳系中发生的各种物理现象，例如中性粒子和带电粒子之间的电荷交换过程、拾取离子(PUI)的诞生、高能中性原子(ENAs)的起源、湍流、太阳顶不稳定性与西南星际介质(LISM)界面的磁重联的相互作用、LISM中等离子体波的产生、日光层对TeV宇宙线各向异性的影响，以及更多。该项目还将把模拟结果与观测数据进行匹配，以限制LISM的特性，并改进与时间相关的SW模型。该项目将包括新帕克太阳探测器和太阳轨道器飞行任务的直接测量，以及从太阳到地球再到日球层边界的现场测量，来自新地平线、旅行者、IBEX和空气簇射的观测。这个项目将提取伴随着与高能粒子相互作用的等离子体中性流动的基本物理学。建模活动的目标是以一种以前无法想象的方式理解和解释观察结果，因为物理模型和计算能力都存在限制。物理模型的组件和相应的代码例程将在可公开访问的模拟套件中提供。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The objective of this proposal is to use the possibilities provided by the Blue Waters supercomputer to model fundamental and challenging space physics problems. The heliosphere is the sphere like region of space dominated by the Sun, which extends far beyond the orbit of Pluto. The Solar Wind (SW) consists of ionized atoms from the Sun. The project will model the SW flows in the inner and outer heliosphere, and compare the results with observational data. It is anticipated that the project will provide a leap forward in the simulation of complex charged and neutral gas systems. Furthermore, the proposed approach to computational resource management for complex codes utilizing multiple algorithm technologies is expected to be a major advance to current approaches. The development of resource management technologies will be essential for all future modeling efforts that incorporate a wide diversity of scales and physical processes.The analysis of flows of partially ionized plasma that are characterized by multiple or highly localized scales and multiple processes, will have a transformative impact for heliophysics. The project will address a variety of physical phenomena occurring throughout the solar system, such as the charge exchange processes between neutral and charged particles, the birth of pick-up ions (PUIs), the origin of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), turbulence, the interplay of the heliopause instability and magnetic reconnection at the SW and local interstellar medium (LISM) interface, plasma wave generation in the LISM, the effect of the heliosphere on the TeV cosmic ray anisotropy, and more. The project will also fit simulation results with observational data to constrain the properties of the LISM and refine time-dependent SW models. The project will incorporate the direct measurements from the New Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter missions, as well as the in situ measurements of the SW from the Sun to Earth and further to the heliospheric boundary, from the New Horizons, Voyager, IBEX, and air shower observations. This project will extract the fundamental physics of plasma-neutral flows accompanied by the interaction with energetic particles. The goal of the modeling activities is to understand and interpret observations in a way previously unthinkable because of the limitations in both physical models and computing power. Components of the physical model and corresponding code routines will be made available in a publicly accessible simulation suite.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.