Collaborative Research: Simulations, Theory and Observations of Plasma Turbulence and Heating Found in Solar Chromosphere

The investigators will carry out theoretical analysis and computer simulations of solar observations to test the hypothesis that heating in the coolest parts of the Sun’s atmosphere is caused by small-scale (meter-sized) slow-moving plasma processes referred to as the Thermal Farley-Buneman Instability. This may also occur in the atmospheres of other stars and planets, including the Earth.

The researchers will train graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in methods of computational plasma physics. The student groups will include women and people from historically excluded populations.

The team will constrain their models using data from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) on the NASA Solar Observation Satellite using the Mg II spectral lines in the NUV passband. They will use full-disk scans performed once month to capture a large variety of targets. They will also use Fe I 617.3 nm data with 1 arcsecond resolution obtained with the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory’s Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (SDO/HMI) instrument for measurements of the photospheric magnetic field.

The work will include a series of multifluid and kinetic simulations to explore the nonlinear and thermal properties of the resulting turbulence and incorporate the electron heating into larger radiative magnetohydrodynamic codes. The models will also help understand observations from NSF’s new DKIST solar observatory.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.