Satellite measurements taken near Earth's magnetopause have indicated that heavy ions can dominate the mass density about a third of the time. The processes that control the transport of energy and mass across the magnetopause are all significantly affected by the presence of heavy ions. Heavy ions also the process by which low frequency compressional waves are converted to kinetic Alfvén waves.
This project will examine ionospheric outflows, plasma sheet refilling and transport during northward and southward IMF conditions using a combination of observations from CLUSTER, THEMIS, Geotail, Polar, FAST and DMSP and multi-fluid nonlinear kinetic simulations that treat physics on the scale of the ion gyroradius. It will examine the effects of heavy ions on: (1) plasma entry processes due to reconnection, Kelvin-Helmholtz waves and mode conversion to kinetic Alfven waves and (2) on transport coefficients due to computed wave fields from these various processes. The project will utilize a combination of theoretical modeling work and data analysis.
The project will support a postdoctoral researcher and will include research tasks for undergraduate students participating in the National Undergraduate Fellowship Program in Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Sciences and the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
