International Research Fellowship Program: Acceleration of Interstellar Pickup Ions in the Inner Heliosphere

Saul, Lukas A, Dover NH

Investigators

Abstract

0502324 Saul The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twelve-month research fellowship by Dr. Lukas A. Saul to work with Drs. Eberhard Mobius, Harald Kucharek, and Charles W. Smith at the University of New Hampshire, Dr. Berndt Klecker at Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, Dr. Peter Bochsler at the University of Bern in Switzerland, and Dr. Maciej Bzowski at the Polish Academy of Science's Space Research Centre in Warsaw, Poland. Natural acceleration processes create a radiation environment around the Earth of high energy particles and cosmic rays. Such particles can damage satellites and pose a risk to life, but can also teach us about conditions in the local space environment. Acceleration processes can also shape interstellar clouds and can affect stellar system formation. Despite the importance of such processes in practical considerations and in learning about our history, there are many unanswered questions regarding the mechanisms of acceleration and their predictability. The PI will collaborate with space physics investigators in Europe and the United States to investigate one focused area of particle acceleration. They will use observations of interstellar particles newly ionized in the solar wind (pickup ions) as tracers of acceleration processes. Because the initial energies of pickup ions are well known, they can be used to test theories of acceleration by interplanetary shocks or by waves. Separate measurements are available of pickup ions at multiple energies, giving them the opportunity to compare fluxes and learn about acceleration rates. These rates can be compared to other parameters of acceleration regions, such as solar wind density and magnetic field. The observations can then be compared to models of particle acceleration. It is hoped that this research will not only give new knowledge of particle acceleration in the inner heliosphere, but will also apply to acceleration mechanisms in other contexts. This project connects several of the best institutes in the field to work on a common project, benefiting both the fellow and the researchers at these institutes.