Plasma thermodynamics of the inner heliosphere with Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe

使用太阳轨道飞行器和帕克太阳探测器研究日光层内层的等离子体热力学

• 批准号: 2743129
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Northumbria University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2743129
• 关键词: Plasma; thermodynamics; inner; heliosphere; Solar

One of the most important unanswered questions in astrophysics is: how do ions and electrons get hot in plasma that effectively has no collisions between particles? One way that we can directly investigate the heating processes is to observe an astrophysical plasma first hand by measuring the solar wind, the hot and fast outflow of plasma from the Sun. The solar wind hand has the interesting property that electrons in the flow are, on average, about 30% hotter than the ions. It is not known whether this difference in temperature is generated in the solar corona before the solar wind is launched into interplanetary space, or caused by local heating processes related to the dissipation of turbulence in the solar wind itself. Either way, the ions and electrons must be interacting with electromagnetic fields in the plasma to gain and distribute energy. To investigate exactly which mechanisms move energy between the ions, electrons, and the electromagnetic fields involves theoretical understanding of kinetic plasma physics and electromagnetism and data analysis of observations taken by spacecraft. The student will work to answer the questions: What processes heat ions and electrons near the Sun? Why are electrons hotter than ions? How does the expansion of the solar wind affect these heating and acceleration processes?The student will use data recorded by the new ESA Solar Orbiter (SO) and NASA Parker Solar Probe (PSP) missions to measure at the ions, electrons and electromagnetic fields closed to the Sun than ever studied before. The primary work of the PhD will be data analysis using statistical analysis of large data sets and machine learning or other big-data analysis techniques.The student will have the opportunity to present their work at national and international conferences and publish work in leading scientific journals. By the end of the PhD, the student will have learned scientific writing, coding for data analysis, methods for visualising data, presenting of complex material to a wide audience, and how to manage their own small projects. The student will participate in SO SWA meetings, learning how particle sensors designed for space science work and are operated, and work with the world-leading scientists of the SO and PSP missions.

天体物理学中最重要的未解问题之一是：离子和电子是如何在粒子之间没有碰撞的等离子体中变热的？我们可以直接研究加热过程的一种方法是通过测量太阳风来直接观察天体物理等离子体，太阳风是来自太阳的等离子体的高温和快速流出。太阳风手有一个有趣的特性，即流中的电子平均比离子热30%左右。目前还不知道这种温差是在太阳风进入行星际空间之前在日冕中产生的，还是由与太阳风本身湍流耗散有关的局部加热过程引起的。无论哪种方式，离子和电子必须与等离子体中的电磁场相互作用，以获得和分配能量。要确切地研究离子、电子和电磁场之间的能量移动机制，需要对动力学等离子体物理学和电磁学的理论理解以及对航天器观测数据的分析。学生将回答以下问题：太阳附近的离子和电子是如何加热的？为什么电子比离子热？太阳风的膨胀如何影响这些加热和加速过程？学生将使用新的欧空局太阳轨道器（SO）和美国宇航局帕克太阳探测器（PSP）任务记录的数据来测量比以往任何时候都更接近太阳的离子，电子和电磁场。博士的主要工作将是使用大数据集和机器学习或其他大数据分析技术的统计分析进行数据分析。学生将有机会在国家和国际会议上展示他们的工作，并在领先的科学期刊上发表工作。到博士学位结束时，学生将学习科学写作，数据分析编码，可视化数据的方法，向广泛的受众展示复杂的材料，以及如何管理自己的小项目。学生将参加SO SWA会议，学习为空间科学设计的粒子传感器如何工作和操作，并与SO和PSP任务的世界领先科学家合作。