Project Description

Objectives for the team, summarized in two central science questions:

  1. What are the key observational characteristics of the turbulent solar wind and, more general, astrophysical plasmas that influence energetic particle propagation?
  2. Which different propagation regimes of energetic particles can be identified and how are they connected to specific structures and properties of the background plasma turbulence?

This results in the following high level tasks for the team:

  1. Analysis of turbulent plasma models based on synthetic and MHD methods in conjunction with in-situ observations of the solar wind by various spacecraft and kinetic simulations of turbulent plasmas. Understanding of the most relevant characteristics of turbulence in spacecraft observations and kinetic simulations which are still to be included (of course in reduced form) in synthetic turbulence models.
  2. Detailed investigation of particle propagation in these plasmas and assessment of different transport regimes. This is done while testing, with comparison to in-situ spacecraft data and kinetic numerical simulations, the validity of effective particle transport models based on diffusion approximations and non-diffusive transport regimes.