219 Electron Self-consistent Kinetics at Mercury: Observations, Simulations

Job title:

219 Electron Self-consistent Kinetics at Mercury: Observations, Simulations

Company:

Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales

Job description

25-219 Electron Self-consistent Kinetics at Mercury: Observations, SimulationsPostuler25-219 Electron Self-consistent Kinetics at Mercury: Observations, Simulations

• Doctorat, 36 mois
• Temps plein
• Indifférent
• Maitrise, IEP, IUP, Bac+4
• Sun, Heliosphere, Magnetosphere, Space weather

PostulerMissionThe planetary system of Mercury will be intensively explored in the coming years. BepiColombo is an interdisciplinary mission carried out by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), that will perform a comprehensive orbital exploration of Mercury starting at the end of 2026. From dedicated orbits, two spacecraft will be studying the origin and evolution of the planet, its interior and surface, as well as its surrounding environment. With their powerful and unique suite of particle and wave instruments, they will return an unprecedently large amount of data on the fundamental plasma processes down to the electron scale that affect the planetary system as a whole. BepiColombo will allow a major leap forward in our understanding of the interactions between the Sun and planetary environments in our Solar System, and beyond, including habitability conditions against strong stellar winds, provided we properly interpret particle and electromagnetic data in terms of the micro- and macro-scale physical processes that took place in the magnetosphere of Mercury.Mercury has a unique and complex space environment with its weak intrinsic magnetic field, intense solar wind, tenuous exosphere, and magnetospheric plasma particles. The extreme and peculiar conditions of Mercury constitute a natural but complex laboratory for investigating the kinetic regimes of a dynamic and small (compared to the ion gyroradius scales) magnetosphere. Mercury’s magnetosphere is known to involve fundamental processes releasing particles and energy like at Earth due to the solar wind interaction. The resulting cycle is however much faster and involves acceleration, transport, loss, and recycling of plasma with wave-particle interactions playing an important role as for other magnetized planets. Detailed experimental evidence for the roles of electrons and waves during this cycle at Mercury is therefore missing due to the lack of suitable instruments in the probes that previously visited the planet. Coordinated observations by BepiColombo relying on advanced magnetospheric instruments (Mercury Plasma Particle Experiment MPPE, Plasma Wave Investigation PWI, and Search for Exospheric Refilling and Emitted Natural Abundances Experiment SERENA) enabling measurements down to the electron scale will contribute to a better understanding of the fundamental plasma physical processes operating in the planetary system.The proposed PhD project will focus on three sets of key questions, the first one dealing with the electron properties, dynamics, and motions in the small-scale, variable magnetosphere of Mercury; the second one with the physical processes occurring during the interactions between electrons, the surface, and the exosphere of the planet, and the third one with the interactions between electrons and waves in the magnetosphere, resulting in particle acceleration and losses, including will combine space plasma data analysis, advanced numerical simulations, and wave-particle interactions in planetary magnetospheres to provide an unprecedented way to explore in 3D and self-consistently the micro- and macro-scale fundamental physical processes operating in the complex, highly dynamic system of Mercury. The proposed PhD project is timely since it will start one year before the arrival in orbit around the planet and can start with all observations obtained during the six Mercury flybys.For more Information about the topics and the co-financial partner (found by the lab !);contact Directeur de thèse –Then, prepare a resume, a recent transcript and a reference letter from your M2 supervisor/ engineering school director and you will be ready to apply online before March 14th, 2025 Midnight Paris time !

Expected salary

Location

Toulouse

Job date

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 06:37:16 GMT

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