Dartmouth Events

Abstract: One of the outstanding problems in plasma physics is quantifying the distribution and flow of energy in weakly collisional plasmas, such as the solar wind as it is ejected from the Sun’s surface and travels through the solar system. Studying these processes in the solar wind is necessary to characterize the energy budget in the heliosphere and serves as a natural laboratory for studying analogous astrophysical and laboratory systems. There are a number of competing mechanisms that have been proposed to govern the transport and dissipation of energy that are expected to dominate under different conditions, including the excitation and dissipation of kinetic-scale waves. Such waves are observed in the inner heliosphere, coincident with non-Maxwellian velocity distributions. More detailed velocity distribution measurements, enabled by recent in situ missions including Magnetosphere MultiScale, Parker Solar Probe, and Solar Orbiter, allow for more sophisticated studies of wave generation and dissipation.  This talk will review these recent studies and consider how future multipoint, multiscale missions such as HelioSwarm will continue to improve our understanding of the thermodynamic role of ion-scale waves and fluctuations in plasmas throughout the Universe.

Hosted by Professor Muni Zhou

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://dartmouth.zoom.us/j/91888702369?pwd=aUlaVEFYNGZHNlZWL0R3cEVWQXg4UT09

Email Rowan.m.kowalsky@dartmouth.edu for passcode