Related papers: Boltzmann electron PIC simulation of the E-sail ef…
A propulsion concept in which a spacecraft interacts with high-velocity pellets and the interstellar medium is proposed. The pellets are slower than the spacecraft and are accelerated backwards as they are overtaken, imparting a forward…
The solar wind wake behind the moon is studied with 1D electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations using a physical ion to electron mass ratio (unlike prior investigations); the simulations also apply more generally to supersonic flow…
We perform and analyze global Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations of the interaction between solar wind and an outgassing comet with the goal of studying the plasma kinetic dynamics of a cometary environment. To achieve this, we design and…
We have obtained an electromagnetic PIC (EM-PIC) algorithm based on time-space-extended particle in cell model. In this model particles are shaped objects extended over time and space around Lagrangian markers. Sources carried by these…
We show that by having the auxtethers made partly or completely of conducting material and by controlling their voltages, it is possible to control the spin rate of the electric solar wind sail by using the electric sail effect itself. The…
Solar wind stream interaction regions (SIRs) are often characterized by energetic ion enhancements. The mechanisms accelerating these particles, as well as the locations where the acceleration occurs, remain debated. Here, we report the…
It is thought that solar energetic ions associated with coronal/interplanetary shock waves are accelerated to high energies by the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism. For this mechanism to be efficient, intense magnetic turbulence is…
We present two-dimensional fully-kinetic Particle-in-Cell simulations of decaying electromagnetic fluctuations. The computational box is such that wavelengths ranging from electron to ion gyroradii are resolved. The parameters used are…
We present a study of the acceleration of electrons at a perpendicular shock that propagates through a turbulent magnetic field. The energization process of electrons is investigated by utilizing a combination of hybrid (kinetic ions and…
Spacecraft observations showed that electron heat conduction in the solar wind is probably regulated by whistler waves, whose origin and efficiency in electron heat flux suppression is actively investigated. In this paper, we present…
We extend the recently developed entropic and conservative variance reduction framework [M. Sadr, N. G. Hadjiconstantinou, A variance-reduced direct Monte Carlo simulation method for solving the Boltzmann equation over a wide range of…
1.5D PIC, relativistic, fully electromagnetic (EM) simulations are used to model EM wave emission generation in the context of solar type III radio bursts. The model studies generation of EM waves by a super-thermal, hot beam of electrons…
We investigate electron acceleration resulting from 3D magnetic reconnection between an emerging, twisted magnetic flux rope and a pre-existing weak, open magnetic field. We first follow the rise of an unstable, twisted flux tube with a…
The role of large amplitude whistler waves in the energization and scattering of solar wind electrons has long been an interesting problem in Space Physics. To study this wave-particle interaction, we developed a vectorized test particle…
In the framework of a strict mathematical approach based on classical theory of elasticity we present an idea of the deployment and stretching of the circular solar sail attached to the inflatable toroidal shell. It is predicted that by…
Previous theoretical considerations of electron beam relaxation in inhomogeneous plasmas have indicated that the effects of the irregular solar wind may account for the poor agreement of homogeneous modelling with the observations.…
The role of solar wind expansion in generating whistler waves is investigated using the EB-iPic3D code, which models solar wind expansion self-consistently within a fully kinetic semi-implicit approach. The simulation is initialized with an…
A solid-state electro-aerodynamic propulsion system applies a high electric potential difference between two electrodes to ionize air within the resulting electric field, accelerating the ions to generate thrust. Previously, the so-called…
We analyse the potential of the electric solar wind sail for solar system space missions. Applications studied include fly-by missions to terrestrial planets (Venus, Mars and Phobos, Mercury) and asteroids, missions based on non-Keplerian…
After introduction we focus on: the transport of charged particles, the acceleration of ions at shocks, and the acceleration of electrons at shocks. Chapter 2 studies the propagation of solar energetic particles(SEPs) in turbulent magnetic…