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，但近地空间目前是唯一一个可以在自然存在的尺度上通过现场测量来研究物理的等离子体物理实验室。在磁层中研究这一问题将提供对太阳日冕加热问题的洞察。这可以使磁层物理领域以外的更大的空间和天体物理界受益。PI是一名终身女性物理学教授，该项目将资助ERAU本科生参加暑期研究项目，并资助一名女性博士生，为期3年。为了加深对低纬边界层跨尺度非绝热离子和电子加热的理解，从磁流体动力学(MHD)到离子到电子尺度，等离子体波将在延伸到电子尺度的离子回旋频率之上被识别。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，并研究粒子分布以及微观电子和离子速度梯度中可能的自由能量来源，这些速度梯度首次可以用磁层多尺度(MMS)任务的数据解决。这项提议的目标是解决在LLBL中观察到的高频波是什么，它们的特征和与周围等离子体条件的关系，以及它们在离子和电子加热中的作用。虽然这项工作解决了目前在全球MHD程序中被忽略的微尺度物理，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赖，以及这些动力学尺度波如何改变环境等离子体的性质。环境等离子体性质是决定重联效率和太阳风-磁层耦合的关键。因此，这项研究对于理解制定更好的全球空间气象和磁层模型所需考虑的物理学问题具有重要意义。

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.