The Principal Investigator (PI) will investigate the basic properties of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, including transport theories for macroscopic or inhomogeneous processes that include turbulence effects and the interfaces between MHD and kinetic physics. He plans an integrated approach using MHD and fluid simulation techniques, transport theory, analytical theories of turbulence and particle diffusion, as well as analysis and interpretation of spacecraft observations. The PI will study energetic particle response to turbulence and he will develop sub-grid scale modeling for large-scale simulations and refined models for turbulence transport and solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays.
Given that plasma turbulence is a feature of nonlinear plasma electrodynamics that pervades the universe, this work will impact many fields of plasma physics and astrophysics. MHD turbulence is relevant to solar coronal heating, the acceleration of the solar wind, the distributed heating of the solar wind, the mediation of space weather effects by transfer of energy through the heliosphere, and the transport of solar and galactic energetic charged particles throughout the solar system. This project's educational component includes the supervision of junior personnel, including scientific and career mentoring for a postdoctoral fellow and other research scientists. This effort will make important contributions to new analysis techniques, computational methods, and parallel computing strategies, as well as to industrial and cross-disciplinary applications that are used in many research fields.
