SHINE: Studies of ICME-CME Connections and Implications for Heliospheric Topology

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

The Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to identify the solar site of a coronal mass ejection (CME) process called "interchange reconnection" and to deduce properties of the magnetic configuration in which this reconnection occurs. Interchange reconnection is thought to release one foot of a CME field loop from the Sun, thereby reducing the flux it contributes to the heliosphere. The PI plans to identify potential sites of interchange reconnection, using observations of unidirectional suprathermal electrons in ICMEs (which signal singly-connected field lines, as opposed to counterstreaming electrons, which presumably signal doubly-connected field loops) in combination with other ground- and space-based data, and then to search X-ray and/or extreme ultraviolet images of the Sun in the vicinity of the hypothesized sites for evidence of the reconnection event. She expects that her results will test our understanding of how CMEs leave the Sun and build upon the underpinnings of present CME modeling efforts. The proposer also hopes to make definitive progress toward resolving interrelated problems regarding the lack of signatures of fields completely disconnected from the Sun, the rate of interchange reconnection as ICMEs (interplanetary-CMEs) move far out into the heliosphere, the question of counterstreaming as a signature of doubly-connected field lines, and whether ICMEs contribute to the solar cycle variation of magnetic flux. This proposal addresses problems central to understanding the physical processes that control CMEs, the heliospheric magnetic field, and the suprathermal electron populations that thread the field. The PI will serve as a mentor to a postdoctoral researcher and to undergraduate students, with emphasis on the participation of females in the sciences. She will also promote the community building efforts and research agenda of the Solar, Heliospheric, and Interplanetary Environment (SHINE) program.