Description du sujet de thèse

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter mission was launched in 2020. It has already provided a wealth of solar wind data of unprecedented quality, over a broad range of radial distances from the Sun (from ~0.3 to 1 astronomical unit). The key science question that the PhD work intends to address is the role of magnetic reconnection in the dynamics, heating and dissipation of the solar wind as a function of distance from the Sun and the type of solar wind (slow, fast, etc.), population (core or beams) and species (protons or alpha particles). The PhD work will consist in both theory/modeling (of ion species through reconnection) and data analysis activities. A preliminary work on the subject can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202141149. The work will largely be based on the analysis of ion distribution functions from the Proton and Alpha Sensor that was built in France (IRAP, Toulouse). The developments performed will further be geared to prepare for the analysis of data from the ion ElectroStatic Analyzer (iESA) that is currently being developed between IRAP (Toulouse) and LAB (Bordeaux) for NASA's HelioSwarm mission (planned for launch in 2029). The iESA instrument design, although having higher angular and temporal resolutions, directly inherits from the PAS sensor design. HelioSwarm is a 9 spacecraft constellation mission that will permit the study of solar wind turbulence, reconnection and other processes in three dimensions, at multiple scales simultaneously, for the first time.

Contexte de travail

This thesis will be carried out within the PEPS team at IRAP/CNRS/UPS.
Method: data analysis and modeling.
Thesis supervisor: Vincent Génot
Co-supervisor: Benoit Lavraud

Le poste se situe dans un secteur relevant de la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique (PPST), et nécessite donc, conformément à la réglementation, que votre arrivée soit autorisée par l'autorité compétente du MESR.

Contraintes et risques

Screen-based work. Regular missions to LAB (Bordeaux).
Possible missions abroad (conferences, project meetings).
Collaboration visits (several weeks) possible.