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A GRAND CHALLENGE PROBLEM AT THE FOREFRONT OF HELIOPHYSICS IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE ENERGY OF PLASMA FLOWS AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS IS CONVERTED INTO ENERGY OF THE PLASMA PARTICLES EITHER AS HEAT OR SOME OTHER FORM OF PARTICLE ENERGIZATION. UNDER THE TYPICALLY LOW-DENSITY AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS OF TURBULENT PLASMAS IN THE HELIOSPHERE AND PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES THE TURBULENT DYNAMICS IS WEAKLY COLLISIONAL REQUIRING THE APPLICATION OF SIX-DIMENSIONAL (3D-3V) KINETIC PLASMA THEORY TO FOLLOW THE EVOLUTION OF THE TURBULENCE WHERE THE DAMPING OF THE TURBULENT FLUCTUATIONS OCCURS DUE TO COLLISIONLESS INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND THE INDIVIDUAL PLASMA PARTICLES. A RECENTLY DEVISED INNOVATIVE METHOD FOR DIAGNOSING THE ENERGIZATION OF PARTICLES USES CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD AND PARTICLE VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION MEASUREMENTS. HERE WE PROPOSE THE FIRST DEDICATED EFFORT TO APPLY THIS NOVEL FIELD-PARTICLE CORRELATION TECHNIQUE TO THE UNPRECEDENTED HIGH-RESOLUTION FIELD AND PARTICLE MEASUREMENTS FROM THE MMS MISSION WITH THE GOALS TO DIAGNOSE THE MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COLLISIONLESS REMOVAL OF ENERGY FROM THE TURBULENT FLUCTUATIONS AND TO CHARACTERIZE HOW THIS REMOVED ENERGY IS DISTRIBUTED TO PARTICLES WITH DIFFERENT VELOCITIES. THIS PROJECT DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE HIGH-LEVEL SCIENCE GOAL OF THE 2013 NRC HELIOPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY TO "UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL PROCESSES OF THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT FROM THE SUN TO EARTH TO OTHER PLANETS AND BEYOND TO THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM."

$493,723FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

The University Of Iowa

Investigators

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