Space Plasma: The Plasma Physics of Non-Equilibrium Partially Ionized Gases

Bartol Research Institute, Newark DE

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract This project will examine the origin and dynamics of turbulence in the interplanetary medium. Turbulence will be incorporated into mean-field models of the solar wind and the role of turbulence on shock waves and the acceleration of particles at shocks will be investigated. The role of turbulence in the modulation of cosmic rays will also be investigated. The coupling of turbulence to the mean-field models of the solar wind will be accomplished by introducing source terms for the dissipation of turbulence into the large-scale solar wind model. To investigate the role of turbulence in shocks, coupled microscopic and macroscopic models of the shock waves will be used to generalize the Rankine-Hugoniot conditions. The influence of turbulence on cosmic ray modulation will be accomplished by adding turbulent scattering to existing cosmic ray transport codes.