🌞🔀🌏 Theoretical and Computational Studies of Magnetic Reconnection and the Dynamics of Energetic Particles

Project type: Computation and Theory

The release of magnetic energy drives explosive phenomena throughout nature, including in laboratory fusion experiments, storms in the Earth's magnetosphere, and astrophysical flares. Each is triggered by magnetic reconnection, where oppositely directed magnetic field lines form an x-line configuration that changes the global topology and triggers the redirection of energy to the surrounding plasma. The forefront of magnetic reconnection research is the development of multi-x-line reconnection and the production of large numbers of relativistic particles. This project investigates such topics via massively parallel computations.

Participants will be introduced to plasma physics (particularly space plasmas), running massively parallel codes, high-performance supercomputing, and data analysis and interpretation with IDL. Care will be taken to match the complexity of the problem with the skills and time available so that students can bring projects to completion.

Prof. Drake and Dr. Swisdak have previously mentored over 20 TREND students, some resulting in undergraduate co-authored publications

Alumni/Previous Projects

Want help getting in touch with these mentors? Reach out to Daniel.

Reach out with questions, application materials, or to set up a time to chat.

• trend-reu@umd.edu
• Daniel Serrano (Program Director)
• Schedule chat