Research
The Sun, like most visible matter in the univers, is a plasma. In physiscs we call plasma to a gas made up of charged particles that interact with each other and external magnetic and electric fields. A few solar radii above the Sun's surface, the plasma becomes thinner and is accelerated, expanding from a nearby distance from the Sun's surface to the very limits of the solar system. This continuous emission of plasma is known as the solar wind and is the upper and more extense layer of the Sun's atmosphere, the Heliosphere.
All celestial bodies in the solar system are immersed in the Heliosphere. Planets with magnetic field, like Earth, block the passage of the solar wind across them. Close to the magnetopause, that is, the frontier between the terrestial and solar wind's magnetic fields, a shock wave stands in the heliospheric plasma, known as bow shock. Once the solar wind crosses the bow shock, it is compressed against Earth's magnetic field. This creates a zone of dense plasma that surrounds the magnetopause, the so called magnetosheath. Thus, the interior of the magnetopause is a volume isolated from the solar plasma and is called the magnetosphere.
Our group's work focuses on the study of magnetic reconnection, turbulence, electromagnetic ion-ciclotron waves (EMIC) and the presence of heavy ions inside Earth's magnetosphere and its surroundings. These physical mechanisms act on all space plasmas and are essential for understanding their properties and evolution.