SHINE: Nonlinear Electrostatic Structures in the Interplanetary Medium

University Of Iowa, Iowa City IA

Investigators

Abstract

Nonlinear, electrostatic structures in the form of isolated electric field pulses have been observed in the solar wind and at boundaries such as planetary shocks, magnetopauses, and magnetosheaths. This study of these nonlinear structures will focus on two main tasks: (i) to analytically model the observed pulses, study their steady-state properties, and numerically evolve the solutions to learn their dynamical properties, and (ii) to identify isolated electric field pulses in the existing and new data sets from missions that explore the interplanetary medium to provide observational input and constraints for the theoretical analysis. In addition, this investigation seeks to address the significance of these nonlinear pulses by establishing their properties in the theoretical and observational domains. As the plasma in the interplanetary medium is largely collisionless, this study of solitary structures has fundamental value for understanding how collisionless plasma self-consistently support nonlinear waves.