Energy Transfer Processes in the Solar Wind: Kinetic scale instabilities and wave-particle interactions in small scale turbulence

太阳风是来自太阳的等离子体的持续外流，它扩展到太阳系行星之间的空间，形成日光层。太阳风本质上是湍流的，其特征是在一系列尺度上的不稳定性。太阳也会间歇性地喷发出质量（CME）或高能粒子（SEP），这些粒子由于与太阳风的相互作用而改变其轨道或能量。当这些猛烈的粒子事件撞击地球的磁层时，它们可能会造成“空间天气”，对我们的自然和技术环境产生长期和短期的影响。了解作为空间气象事件传播媒介的太阳风及其与磁层的耦合，对于制定成功的空间气象预测和减缓战略至关重要。本项目将研究湍流等离子体中动力学不稳定性的行为和影响，特别强调能量转移过程。对于这些非线性过程的调查，将使用理论分析，数值模拟和各种观测数据集相结合的跨学科方法。该项目将利用2020年2月发射的欧空局太阳轨道器航天器前所未有的观测结果，以增进我们对太阳、太阳风和空间天气的了解。

The solar wind is a continuous outflow of plasma from the Sun, which expands into the space between the planets in our solar system and forms the heliosphere. The solar wind is inherently turbulent and characterised by instabilities on a range of scales. The Sun also intermittently ejects mass (CME) or energetic particles (SEP) which change their trajectory or energy due to their interactions with the solar wind. When these violent particle events hit the Earth's magnetosphere, they can cause "space-weather" with both long- and short-term impacts on our natural and technological environment. The understanding of the solar wind, as the medium through which space-weather events propagate, and its coupling with the magnetosphere is crucial for the development of successful space-weather prediction and mitigation strategies. This project will investigate the behaviour and the effects of kinetic instabilities in a turbulent plasma with particular emphasis on energy transfer processes. For the investigation of these nonlinear processes, a cross-disciplinary approach combining theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and a variety of observational datasets will be used. This project will utilise the unprecedented observations from ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft, launched in February 2020, to advance our understanding of the Sun, the solar wind, and space-weather.