This is an opportunity to study wave-particle interactions, particularly whistler mode waves interacting with energetic electrons in Earth's natural radiation belts. These waves occur naturally and were extensively measured by NASA's Van Allen Probes satellites, but their angles of propagation and their effects on trapped particles are still under study. Such waves were also transmitted by AFRL's DSX satellite and their effects on particle precipitation are still being examined, e.g. using data from the ELFIN cubesats. Such processes are also directly relevant to various proposed schemes to modify artificial radiation belts.

References: 

Johnston, W. R., et al. (2023). Overview of the Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) mission. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 128, e2022JA030771. https://doi. org/10.1029/2022JA030771

Gan, L., Li, W., Ma, Q., Artemyev, A. V., & Albert, J. M. (2022). Dependence of nonlinear effects on whistler-mode wave bandwidth and amplitude: A perspective from diffusion coefficients. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 127, e2021JA030063. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JA030063

Albert, J. M. (2010), Diffusion by one wave and by many waves, J. Geophys. Res., 115, A00F05, doi:10.1029/2009JA014732

Additional Benefits

Awardees who reside more than 50 miles from their host laboratory and remain on tenure for at least six months are eligible for paid relocation to within the vicinity of their host laboratory.

A group health insurance program is available to awardees and their qualifying dependents in the United States.