Applied Math Seminar

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Understanding magnetized plasma turbulence by means of numerical simulations and solar wind observations

Speaker: Jean Carlos Perez, Florida Tech

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 1302

Date: Friday, March 24, 2023, 2:30 p.m.

Synopsis:

In-situ measurements by nearly every spacecraft to date have found that the solar wind plasma consists of turbulent velocity and magnetic fluctuations undergoing a turbulence cascade over a broad range of length scales. For scales much larger than the proton gyroradius, this turbulence is believed to result from an incompressible Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) cascade. In this sense, the solar wind provides us with a natural wind tunnel that we can probe to investigate several fundamental questions in magnetized plasma turbulence theory. The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission, launched in 2018, is presently probing the near-Sun solar wind with an orbit that will reach its point of closest approach at a heliospheric radius of approximately 9.8 solar radii by 2025, exploring the outermost portion of the solar corona where the solar wind originates. In this talk I will present a brief overview of how solar wind observations combined with numerical simulations have helped us advance our understanding of magnetized plasma turbulence before and after the PSP mission, as well as the new opportunities that PSP will usher in the coming decades to help us answer important outstanding questions in plasma turbulence.