Advancing our understanding of plasma processes in the young solar wind: Recent results from Parker Solar Probe

Kris Klein

University of Arizona

Monday, November 22, 2021

3:00pm

Virtual

PSFC Seminars

A presentation of recent advances in our understanding of turbulence in shaping the evolution of the solar wind as it propagates from near the Sun to 1 au, driven by novel in situ measurements of the plasma at unprecedented distances close to the Sun by Parker Solar Probe. Changes in the nature of the turbulence as the solar wind plasma expands into the heliosphere, and the different processes that are driven by this expansion, are discussed, as well as open questions regarding the nature of the turbulent cascade that should be addressed over this next decade.

Prof. Klein studies turbulence and instabilities in weakly collisional plasmas, focusing on space and astrophysical systems such as the solar wind. His work encompasses analytic models, numerical simulations, and analysis of in situ spacecraft observations, which are combined to constrain the nature of the non-linear transfer of energy and the specific mechanisms by which that energy is transferred from turbulent fluctuations to thermal energy. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, receiving his PhD from the University of Iowa in 2013 and working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Universities of New Hampshire and Michigan. As a member of the SWEAP science team on Parker Solar Probe, he has been working on understanding the role of instabilities in modifying the evolution of the young solar wind. He is also the deputy PI on the phase A mission concept HelioSwarm, which proposes to launch an observatory of nine spacecraft to study the transport and distribution of turbulent energy at both MHD and ion scales simultaneously.