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Title: A prospectus on kinetic heliophysics

Abstract

Under the low density and high temperature conditions typical of heliospheric plasmas, the macroscopic evolution of the heliosphere is strongly affected by the kinetic plasma physics governing fundamental microphysical mechanisms. Kinetic turbulence, collisionless magnetic reconnection, particle acceleration, and kinetic instabilities are four poorly understood, grand-challenge problems that lie at the new frontier of kinetic heliophysics. The increasing availability of high cadence and high phase-space resolution measurements of particle velocity distributions by current and upcoming spacecraft missions and of massively parallel nonlinear kinetic simulations of weakly collisional heliospheric plasmas provides the opportunity to transform our understanding of these kinetic mechanisms through the full utilization of the information contained in the particle velocity distributions. Several major considerations for future investigations of kinetic heliophysics are examined. Furthermore, turbulent dissipation followed by particle heating is highlighted as an inherently two-step process in weakly collisional plasmas, distinct from the more familiar case in fluid theory.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1466017
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1361905
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0014599
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physics of Plasmas
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 24; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats

Howes, Gregory G. A prospectus on kinetic heliophysics. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4983993.
Howes, Gregory G. A prospectus on kinetic heliophysics. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4983993
Howes, Gregory G. Tue . "A prospectus on kinetic heliophysics". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4983993. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1466017.
@article{osti_1466017,
title = {A prospectus on kinetic heliophysics},
author = {Howes, Gregory G.},
abstractNote = {Under the low density and high temperature conditions typical of heliospheric plasmas, the macroscopic evolution of the heliosphere is strongly affected by the kinetic plasma physics governing fundamental microphysical mechanisms. Kinetic turbulence, collisionless magnetic reconnection, particle acceleration, and kinetic instabilities are four poorly understood, grand-challenge problems that lie at the new frontier of kinetic heliophysics. The increasing availability of high cadence and high phase-space resolution measurements of particle velocity distributions by current and upcoming spacecraft missions and of massively parallel nonlinear kinetic simulations of weakly collisional heliospheric plasmas provides the opportunity to transform our understanding of these kinetic mechanisms through the full utilization of the information contained in the particle velocity distributions. Several major considerations for future investigations of kinetic heliophysics are examined. Furthermore, turbulent dissipation followed by particle heating is highlighted as an inherently two-step process in weakly collisional plasmas, distinct from the more familiar case in fluid theory.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4983993},
journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
number = 5,
volume = 24,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 23 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Tue May 23 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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