Seminar: Multi-scale and multi-process character of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability

Kevin Blasl (IWF Graz) will talk about the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at Earth's magnetopause and its relation to various plasma processes at different scales.

The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) is a ubiquitous phenomenon at the interface of two fluids subject to a velocity shear. Favourable conditions for the formation of Kelvin-Helmholtz waves and vortex structures are, e.g., given at Earth's magnetopause at the interface of the shocked solar wind and the relatively stagnant magnetospheric plasmas. In this setting, the additional complexity of a magnetic field introduces numerous interactions between the two plasma regions at different temporal and spatial scales.

In this seminar, the findings of my PhD research focusing on the interaction of the KHI with other plasma phenomena will be reviewed in a multi-scale approach utilizing both in-situ spacecraft data from NASA's Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission and kinetic Particle-In-Cell simulations.