AGS-PRF: A Study of the Onset of Explosive Magnetic Energy Release

这是一个为期两年的研究生研究奖学金项目，旨在研究与太阳日冕和地球磁层相关的磁结构中驱动磁重联的多尺度过程。全球磁流体动力学（MHD）模拟的结果将用作重连动力学尺度计算的输入。然后对动力学模拟进行分析，以反馈全局演化，特别是解决能量分配和粒子加速等关键问题。具体来说，首席研究员（PI）将从地球磁尾和日冕物质抛射(CME)/太阳耀斑事件的全球模拟中分析扩展电流片的演变。动力学模拟的驱动因素将从主要重连接位点附近的动力学中确定，然后将在高性能的颗粒-细胞（PIC）代码中实现。根据动力学模拟，计算出能量收支和粒子分布。这些数据将(i)与磁层和太阳数据进行比较，在可能的情况下，作为对动力学模型有效性的检查，以及（ii）用于确定“动力学电阻率”模型，然后可以将其用于全球MHD模拟。该研究项目被认为是理解涉及磁重联过程中的多尺度物理耦合的一个可实现的中间步骤。这是一项开创性的首次研究，特别是对太阳事件的研究。由于重联是一种基本的等离子体物理现象，这项工作的结果将产生广泛的影响，远远超出太阳和磁层物理。PI是最近的博士毕业生，该研究项目将支持早期职业女性科学家在大气和地球空间科学领域的持续培训和职业发展

This is a 2-year postgraduate research fellowship project to investigate multi-scale processes that drive magnetic reconnection in magnetic configurations relevant to the solar corona and to the Earth's Magnetosphere. Results from global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations will be used as input to kinetic scale calculations of reconnection. The kinetic simulations will then be analyzed for feedback to the global evolution, in particular to address key issues such as energy partition and particle acceleration. Specifically, the Principal Investigator (PI) will analyze the evolution of extended current sheets from global simulations of Earth's Magnetotail and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)/solar flare events. Drivers for kinetic simulations will be determined from the dynamics near the primary reconnection sites, and will then be implemented in a high performance Particle-in-Cell (PIC) code. From the kinetic simulations, the energy budgets and the particle distributions will be calculated. These will be (i) compared with magnetospheric and solar data, where possible, as a check of the validity of the kinetic model, and (ii) used for determining a "kinetic resistivity" model that can then be put back into global MHD simulations.This research project is perceived as an achievable intermediate step in understanding the multi-scale physical couplings in processes involving magnetic reconnection. It represents a pioneering, first-time investigation, in particular for solar events. As reconnection is a fundamental plasma physics phenomenon, the results of the effort will have broad impacts far beyond solar and magnetospheric physics. The PI is a recent PhD graduate and this research project will support the continued training and career advancement of an early-career female scientist in the Atmospheric and Geospace sciences