Advisor: Charles Kankelborg
Magnetic fields store the energy that is released in solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The mechanisms for storage and sudden release of magnetic energy are a topic of intense debate in the scientific community. This project aims to simulate fields that evolve toward a loss of equilibrium and subsequent eruption.
The fluxon model is a new tool for simulation of magnetized plasmas, developed collaboratively between MSU and SouthWest Research Institute. The code has been refined through application to several basic test cases, but is still maturing. More information on the model, as well as movies and still shots of example applications, may be viewed here. The student will use simulated or measured maps of solar photospheric magnetic fields to generate initial conditions for modeling. The student will learn to run the fluxon model, and will be involved in the evaluation of results. Knowledge of electricity and magnetism, computer programming skills, and writing skills are essential. Prior exposure to numerical modeling or visualization will be considered a strength. Experience with IDL (Interactive Data Language), PDL (Perl Data Language) or Perl is desirable but not required. Two REU students have worked in this area in recent years. Their web pages are here: