Search

We present an event observed by Parker Solar Probe at $\sim$0.2 au on March 2, 2022 in which imaging and \emph{in situ} measurements coincide. During this event, PSP passed through structures on the flank of a streamer blowout CME including an isolated flux tube in front of the CME, a turbulent sheath, and the CME itself. Imaging observations and \emph{in situ} helicity and principal variance signatures consistently show the presence of flux ropes internal to the CME. In both the sheath, and the CME interval, the distributions are more isotropic, the spectra are softer, and the abundance ratios of Fe/O and He/H are lower than those in the isolated flux tube, and yet elevated relative to typical plasma and SEP abundances. These signatures in the sheath and the CME indicate that both flare populations and those from the plasma are accelerated to form the observed energetic particle enhancements. In contrast, the isolated flux tube shows large streaming, hard spectra and large Fe/O and He/H ratios, indicating flare sources. Energetic particle fluxes are most enhanced within the CME interval from suprathermal through energetic particle energies ($\sim$ keV to $>10$ MeV), indicating particle acceleration, and confinement local to the closed magnetic structure. The flux-rope morphology of the CME helps to enable local modulation and trapping of energetic particles, particularly along helicity channels and other plasma boundaries. Thus, the CME acts to build-up energetic particle populations, allowing them to be fed into subsequent higher energy particle acceleration throughout the inner heliosphere where a compression or shock forms on the CME front., Comment: 41 pages, 19 figures, In Press

Potassium-40 is a widespread isotope whose radioactivity impacts estimated geological ages spanning billions of years, nuclear structure theory, and subatomic rare-event searches - including those for dark matter and neutrinoless double-beta decay. The decays of this long-lived isotope must be precisely known for its use as a geochronometer, and to account for its presence in low-background experiments. There are several known decay modes for $^{40}$K, but a predicted electron-capture decay directly to the ground state of argon-40 has never been observed, while theoretical predictions span an order of magnitude. The KDK Collaboration reports on the first observation of this rare decay, obtained using a novel combination of a low-threshold X-ray detector surrounded by a tonne-scale, high-efficiency $\gamma$-ray tagger at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A blinded analysis reveals a distinctly nonzero ratio of intensities of ground-state electron-captures ($I_{\text{EC}^0}$) over excited-state ones ($I_{\text{EC}^*}$) of $I_{\text{EC}^0} / I_{\text{EC}^*}=0.0095\stackrel{\text{stat}}{\pm}0.0022\stackrel{\text{sys}}{\pm}0.0010$ (68% CL), with the null hypothesis rejected at 4$\sigma$ [Stukel et al., DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.052503]. This unambiguous signal yields a branching ratio of $I_{\text{EC}^0}=0.098\%\stackrel{\text{stat}}{\pm}0.023\%\stackrel{\text{sys}}{\pm}0.010$, roughly half of the commonly used prediction. This first observation of a third-forbidden unique electron capture improves understanding of low-energy backgrounds in dark-matter searches and has implications for nuclear-structure calculations. A shell-model based theoretical estimate for the $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay half-life of calcium-48 is increased by a factor of $7^{+3}_{-2}$. Our nonzero measurement shifts geochronological ages by up to a percent; implications are illustrated for Earth and solar system chronologies., Comment: This is a companion submission to Stukel et al (KDK collaboration) "Rare $^{40}$K decay with implications for fundamental physics and geochronology" [arXiv:2211.10319; DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.052503]. As such, both texts share some figures and portions of text. This version updates the text following its review and production process

Potassium-40 is a widespread, naturally occurring isotope whose radioactivity impacts subatomic rare-event searches, nuclear structure theory, and estimated geological ages. A predicted electron-capture decay directly to the ground state of argon-40 has never been observed. The KDK (potassium decay) collaboration reports strong evidence of this rare decay mode. A blinded analysis reveals a non-zero ratio of intensities of ground-state electron-captures ($I_{\text{EC}^0}$) over excited-state ones ($I_\text{EC*}$) of $ I_{\text{EC}^0} / I_\text{EC*} = 0.0095 \stackrel{\text{stat}}{\pm} 0.0022 \stackrel{\text{sys}}{\pm} 0.0010 $ (68% C.L.), with the null hypothesis rejected at 4$\sigma$. In terms of branching ratio, this signal yields $I_{\text{EC}^0} = 0.098\% \stackrel{\text{stat}}{\pm} 0.023\% \stackrel{\text{sys}}{\pm} 0.010\% $, roughly half of the commonly used prediction, with consequences for various fields [L. Hariasz et al., companion paper, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.108.014327]., Comment: This is a companion paper to Hariasz et al (KDK collaboration) "Evidence for ground-state electron capture of ${}^{40}$K" [arXiv:2211.10343; DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.108.014327]. As such, both texts share some figures and portions of text. This version includes the journal DOI

Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter data are used to investigate the radial evolution of magnetic turbulence between $0.06 ~ \lesssim R ~\lesssim 1$ au. The spectrum is studied as a function of scale, normalized to the ion inertial scale $d_{i}$. In the vicinity of the Sun, the inertial range is limited to a narrow range of scales and exhibits a power-law exponent of, $\alpha_{B} = -3/2$, independent of plasma parameters. The inertial range grows with distance, progressively extending to larger spatial scales, while steepening towards a $\alpha_{B} =-5/3$ scaling. It is observed that spectra for intervals with large magnetic energy excesses and low Alfv\'enic content steepen significantly with distance, in contrast to highly Alfv\'enic intervals that retain their near-Sun scaling. The occurrence of steeper spectra in slower wind streams may be attributed to the observed positive correlation between solar wind speed and Alfv\'enicity., Comment: Accepted to APJ letters with minor revisions

In the lower solar coronal regions where the magnetic field is dominant, the Alfven speed is much higher than the wind speed. In contrast, the near-Earth solar wind is strongly super-Alfvenic, i.e., the wind speed greatly exceeds the Alfven speed. The transition between these regimes is classically described as the "Alfven point" but may in fact occur in a distributed Alfven critical region. NASA's Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission has entered this region, as it follows a series of orbits that gradually approach more closely to the sun. During its 8th and 9th solar encounters, at a distance of 16 solar radii from the Sun, PSP sampled four extended periods in which the solar wind speed was measured to be smaller than the local Alfven speed. These are the first in-situ detections of sub-Alfvenic solar wind in the inner heliosphere by PSP. Here we explore properties of these samples of sub-Alfvenic solar wind, which may provide important previews of the physical processes operating at lower altitude. Specifically, we characterize the turbulence, anisotropy, intermittency, and directional switchback properties of these sub-Alfvenic winds and contrast these with the neighboring super-Alfvenic periods., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

Using the Parker Solar Probe FIELDS bandpass filter data and SWEAP electron data from Encounters 1 through 9, we show statistical properties of narrowband whistlers from ~16 Rs to ~130 Rs, and compare wave occurrence to electron properties including beta, temperature anisotropy and heat flux. Whistlers are very rarely observed inside ~28 Rs (~0.13 au). Outside 28 Rs, they occur within a narrow range of parallel electron beta from ~1 to 10, and with a beta-heat flux occurrence consistent with the whistler heat flux fan instability. Because electron distributions inside ~30 Rs display signatures of the ambipolar electric field, the lack of whistlers suggests that the modification of the electron distribution function associated with the ambipolar electric field or changes in other plasma properties must result in lower instability limits for the other modes (including solitary waves, ion acoustic waves) that are observed close to the Sun. The lack of narrowband whistler-mode waves close to the Sun and in regions of either low (<.1) or high (>10) beta is also significant for the understanding and modeling of the evolution of flare-accelerated electrons, and the regulation of heat flux in astrophysical settings including other stellar winds, the interstellar medium, accretion disks, and the intra-galaxy cluster medium

The zodiacal cloud is one of the largest structures in the solar system and strongly governed by meteoroid collisions near the Sun. Collisional erosion occurs throughout the zodiacal cloud, yet it is historically difficult to directly measure and has never been observed for discrete meteoroid streams. After six orbits with Parker Solar Probe (PSP), its dust impact rates are consistent with at least three distinct populations: bound zodiacal dust grains on elliptic orbits ($\alpha$-meteoroids), unbound $\beta$-meteoroids on hyperbolic orbits, and a third population of impactors that may either be direct observations of discrete meteoroid streams, or their collisional byproducts ("$\beta$-streams"). $\beta$-streams of varying intensities are expected to be produced by all meteoroid streams, particularly in the inner solar system, and are a universal phenomenon in all exozodiacal disks. We find the majority of collisional erosion of the zodiacal cloud occurs in the range of $10-20$ solar radii and expect this region to also produce the majority of pick-up ions due to dust in the inner solar system. A zodiacal erosion rate of at least $\sim$100 kg s$^{-1}$ and flux of $\beta$-meteoroids at 1 au of $0.4-0.8 \times 10^{-4}$ m$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ is found to be consistent with the observed impact rates. The $\beta$-meteoroids investigated here are not found to be primarily responsible for the inner source of pick-up ions, suggesting nanograins susceptible to electromagnetic forces with radii below $\sim$50 nm are the inner source of pick-up ions. We expect the peak deposited energy flux to PSP due to dust to increase in subsequent orbits, up to 7 times that experienced during its sixth orbit.

Parker Solar Probe's first encounters with the Sun revealed the presence of ubiquitous localised magnetic deflections in the inner heliosphere; these structures, often called switchbacks, are particularly striking in solar wind streams originating from coronal holes. We report the direct evidence for magnetic reconnection occuring at the boundaries of three switchbacks crossed by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) at a distance of 45 to 48 solar radii of the Sun during its first encounter. We analyse the magnetic field and plasma parameters from the FIELDS and SWEAP instruments. The three structures analysed all show typical signatures of magnetic reconnection. The ion velocity and magnetic field are first correlated and then anti-correlated at the inbound and outbound edges of the bifurcated current sheets with a central ion flow jet. Most of the reconnection events have a strong guide field and moderate magnetic shear but one current sheet shows indications of quasi anti-parallel reconnection in conjunction with a magnetic field magnitude decrease by $90\%$. Given the wealth of intense current sheets observed by PSP, reconnection at switchbacks boundaries appears to be rare. However, as the switchback boundaries accomodate currents one can conjecture that the geometry of these boundaries offers favourable conditions for magnetic reconnection to occur. Such a mechanism would thus contribute in reconfiguring the magnetic field of the switchbacks, affecting the dynamics of the solar wind and eventually contributing to the blending of the structures with the regular wind as they propagate away from the Sun., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A&A, PSP special issue (v2: typos correction)

We investigate the solar wind energy flux in the inner heliosphere using 12-day observations around each perihelion of Encounter One (E01), Two (E02), Four (E04), and Five (E05) of Parker Solar Probe (PSP), respectively, with a minimum heliocentric distance of 27.8 solar radii ($R_\odot{}$). Energy flux was calculated based on electron parameters (density $n_e$, core electron temperature $T_{c}$, and suprathermal electron temperature $T_{h}$) obtained from the simplified analysis of the plasma quasi-thermal noise (QTN) spectrum measured by RFS/FIELDS and the bulk proton parameters (bulk speed $V_p$ and temperature $T_p$) measured by the Faraday Cup onboard PSP, SPC/SWEAP. Combining observations from E01, E02, E04, and E05, the averaged energy flux value normalized to 1 $R_\odot{}$ plus the energy necessary to overcome the solar gravitation ($W_{R_\odot{}}$) is about 70$\pm$14 $W m^{-2}$, which is similar to the average value (79$\pm$18 $W m^{-2}$) derived by Le Chat et al from 24-year observations by Helios, Ulysses, and Wind at various distances and heliolatitudes. It is remarkable that the distributions of $W_{R_\odot{}}$ are nearly symmetrical and well fitted by Gaussians, much more so than at 1 AU, which may imply that the small heliocentric distance limits the interactions with transient plasma structures., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures and Astronomy & Astrophysics Accepted

Potassium-40 ($^{40}$K) is a long-lived, naturally occurring radioactive isotope. The decay products are prominent backgrounds for many rare event searches, including those involving NaI-based scintillators. $^{40}$K also plays a role in geochronological dating techniques. The branching ratio of the electron capture directly to the ground state of argon-40 has never been measured, which can cause difficulty in interpreting certain results or can lead to lack of precision depending on the field and analysis technique. The KDK (Potassium (K) Decay (DK)) collaboration is measuring this decay. A composite method has a silicon drift detector with an enriched, thermally deposited $^{40}$K source inside the Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer. This setup has been characterized in terms of energy calibration, gamma tagging efficiency, live time and false negatives and positives. A complementary, homogeneous, method is also discussed; it employs a KSr$_2$I$_5$:Eu scintillator as source and detector., Comment: 20 pages, 24 figures, Submitted to NIM A

{Parker Solar Probe's first solar encounter has revealed the presence of sudden magnetic field deflections that are called switchbacks and are associated with proton velocity enhancements in the slow alfv\'{e}nic solar wind.} {We study their statistical properties with a special focus on their boundaries.} {Using data from SWEAP and FIELDS we investigate particle and wavefield properties. The magnetic boundaries are analyzed with the minimum variance technique.} {Switchbacks are found to be alfv\'{e}nic in 73\% of the cases and compressible in 27\%. The correlations between magnetic field magnitude and density fluctuations reveal the existence of both positive and negative correlations, and the absence of perturbations of the magnetic field magnitude. Switchbacks do not lead to a magnetic shear in the ambient field. Their boundaries can be interpreted in terms of rotational or tangential discontinuities. The former are more frequent.} {Our findings provide constraints on the possible generation mechanisms of switchbacks, which has to be able to account also for structures that are not purely alfv\'{e}nic. One of the possible candidates, among others, manifesting the described characteristics is the firehose instability.}

We systematically search for magnetic flux rope structures in the solar wind to within the closest distance to the Sun of 0.13 AU, using data from the third and fourth orbits of the Parker Solar Probe. We extend our previous magnetic helicity based technique of identifying magnetic flux rope structures. The method is improved upon to incorporate the azimuthal flow, which becomes larger as the spacecraft approaches the Sun. A total of 21 and 34 magnetic flux ropes are identified during the third (21 days period) and fourth (17 days period) orbits of the Parker Solar Probe, respectively. We provide a statistical analysis of the identified structures, including their relation to the streamer belt and heliospheric current sheet crossing.

AIM: Large amplitude narrowband obliquely propagating whistler-mode waves at frequencies of ~0.2 fce (electron cyclotron frequency) are commonly observed at 1 AU, and are most consistent with the whistler heat flux fan instability. We want to determine whether similar whistler-mode waves occur inside 0.2 AU, and how their properties compare to those at 1 AU. METHODS: We utilize the waveform capture data from the Parker Solar Probe Fields instrument to develop a data base of narrowband whistler waves. The SWEAP instrument, in conjunction with the quasi-thermal noise measurement form Fields, provides the electron heat flux, beta, and other electron parameters. RESULTS: Parker Solar Probe observations inside ~0.3 AU show that the waves are more intermittent than at 1 AU, and are often interspersed with electrostatic whistler/Bernstein waves at higher frequencies. This is likely due to the more variable solar wind observed closer to the Sun. The whistlers usually occur within regions when the magnetic field is more variable and often with small increases in the solar wind speed. The near-sun whistler-mode waves are also narrowband and large amplitude, and associated with beta greater than 1. Wave angles are sometimes highly oblique (near the resonance cone), but angles have been determined for only a small fraction of the events. The association with heat flux and beta is generally consistent with the whistler fan instability although there are intervals where the heat flux is significantly lower than the instability limit. Strong scattering of strahl energy electrons is seen in association with the waves, providing evidence that the waves regulate the electron heat flux..

When a fast dust particle hits a spacecraft, it generates a cloud of plasma some of which escapes into space and the momentary charge imbalance perturbs the spacecraft voltage with respect to the plasma. Electrons race ahead of ions, however both respond to the DC electric field of the spacecraft. If the spacecraft potential is positive with respect to the plasma, it should attract the dust cloud electrons and repel the ions, and vice versa. Here we use measurements of impulsive voltage signals from dust impacts on the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft to show that the peak voltage amplitude is clearly related to the spacecraft floating potential, consistent with theoretical models and laboratory measurements. In addition, we examine some timescales associated with the voltage waveforms and compare to the timescales of spacecraft charging physics., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, submitted to Geophysical Research Letters

Parker Solar Probe (PSP), NASA's latest and closest mission to the Sun, is on a journey to investigate fundamental enigmas of the inner heliosphere. This paper reports initial observations made by the Solar Probe Analyzer for Ions (SPAN-I), one of the instruments in the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) instrument suite. We address the presence of secondary proton beams in concert with ion-scale waves observed by FIELDS, the electromagnetic fields instrument suite. We show two events from PSP's 2nd orbit that demonstrate signatures consistent with wave-particle interactions. We showcase 3D velocity distribution functions (VDFs) measured by SPAN-I during times of strong wave power at ion-scales. From an initial instability analysis, we infer that the VDFs departed far enough away from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) to provide sufficient free energy to locally generate waves. These events exemplify the types of instabilities that may be present and, as such, may guide future data analysis characterizing and distinguishing between different wave-particle interactions., Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables

One of the discoveries made by Parker Solar Probe during first encounters with the Sun is the ubiquitous presence of relatively small-scale structures standing out as sudden deflections of the magnetic field. They were called switchbacks as some of them show up the full reversal of the radial component of the magnetic field and then return to regular conditions. Analyzing the magnetic field and plasma perturbations associated with switchbacks we identify three types of structures with slightly different characteristics: 1. Alfvenic structures, where the variations of the magnetic field components take place while the magnitude of the field remains constant; 2. Compressional, the field magnitude varies together with changes of the components; 3. Structures manifesting full reversal of the magnetic field (extremal class of Alfvenic structures). Processing of structures boundaries and plasma bulk velocity perturbations lead to the conclusion that they represent localized magnetic field tubes with enhanced parallel plasma velocity and ion beta moving together with respect to surrounding plasma. The magnetic field deflections before and after the switchbacks reveal the existence of total axial current. The electric currents are concentrated on the relatively narrow boundary layers on the surface of the tubes and determine the magnetic field perturbations inside the tube. These currents are closed on the structure surface, and typically have comparable azimuthal and the axial components. The surface of the structure may also accommodate an electromagnetic wave, that assists to particles in carrying currents. We suggest that the two types of structures we analyzed here may represent the local manifestations of the tube deformations corresponding to a saturated stage of the Firehose instability development., Comment: 27 pages, 18 Figures, submitted to ApJ Supplement

Observations by the Parker Solar Probe mission of the solar wind at about 35.7 solar radii reveal the existence of whistler wave packets with frequencies below 0.1 f/fce (20-80 Hz in the spacecraft frame). These waves often coincide with local minima of the magnetic field magnitude or with sudden deflections of the magnetic field that are called switchbacks. Their sunward propagation leads to a significant Doppler frequency downshift from 200-300 Hz to 20-80 Hz (from 0.2 f/fce to 0.5 f/fce). The polarization of these waves varies from quasi-parallel to significantly oblique with wave normal angles that are close to the resonance cone. Their peak amplitude can be as large as 2 to 4 nT. Such values represent approximately 10% of the background magnetic field, which is considerably more than what is observed at 1 a.u. Recent numerical studies show that such waves may potentially play a key role in breaking the heat flux and scattering the Strahl population of suprathermal electrons into a halo population.

Magnetic reconnection in current sheets converts magnetic energy into particle energy. The process may play an important role in the acceleration and heating of the solar wind close to the Sun. Observations from Parker Solar Probe provide a new opportunity to study this problem, as it measures the solar wind at unprecedented close distances to the Sun. During the 1st orbit, PSP encountered a large number of current sheets in the solar wind through perihelion at 35.7 solar radii. We performed a comprehensive survey of these current sheets and found evidence for 21 reconnection exhausts. These exhausts were observed in heliospheric current sheets, coronal mass ejections, and regular solar wind. However, we find that the majority of current sheets encountered around perihelion, where the magnetic field was strongest and plasma beta was lowest, were Alfv\'enic structures associated with bursty radial jets and these current sheets did not appear to be undergoing local reconnection. We examined conditions around current sheets to address why some current sheets reconnected, while others did not. A key difference appears to be the degree of plasma velocity shear across the current sheets: The median velocity shear for the 21 reconnection exhausts was 24% of the Alfv\'en velocity shear, whereas the median shear across 43 Alfv\'enic current sheets examined was 71% of the Alfv\'en velocity shear. This finding could suggest that large, albeit sub-Alfv\'enic, velocity shears suppress reconnection. An alternative interpretation is that the Alfv\'enic current sheets are isolated rotational discontinuities which do not undergo local reconnection., Comment: In Press (accepted by ApJS on 2019-11-08) This paper is part of the Parker Solar Probe ApJS Special Issue Current citation: Phan, T. D., S. D. Bale, J. P. Eastwood, et al. (2019), Parker Solar Probe In-Situ Observations of Magnetic Reconnection Exhausts During Encounter 1, ApJS., in press, doi: 10.3847/1538-4365/ab55ee

The solar wind shows periods of highly Alfv\'enic activity, where velocity fluctuations and magnetic fluctuations are aligned or anti-aligned with each other. It is generally agreed that solar wind plasma velocity and magnetic field fluctuations observed by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) during the first encounter are mostly highly Alfv\'enic. However, quantitative measures of Alfv\'enicity are needed to understand how the characterization of these fluctuations compares with standard measures from prior missions in the inner and outer heliosphere, in fast wind and slow wind, and at high and low latitudes. To investigate this issue, we employ several measures to quantify the extent of Alfv\'enicity -- the Alfv\'en ratio $r_A$, {normalized} cross helicity $\sigma_c$, {normalized} residual energy $\sigma_r$, and the cosine of angle between velocity and magnetic fluctuations $\cos\theta_{vb}$. We show that despite the overall impression that the Alfv\'enicity is large in the solar wind sampled by PSP during the first encounter, during some intervals the cross helicity starts decreasing at very large scales. These length-scales (often $> 1000 d_i$) are well inside inertial range, and therefore, the suppression of cross helicity at these scales cannot be attributed to kinetic physics. This drop at large scales could potentially be explained by large-scale shears present in the inner heliosphere sampled by PSP. In some cases, despite the cross helicity being constant down to the noise floor, the residual energy decreases with scale in the inertial range. These results suggest that it is important to consider all these measures to quantify Alfv\'enicity., Comment: Submitted to special issue of ApJ for Parker Solar Probe

The solar wind proton temperature at 1-au has been found to be correlated with small-scale intermittent magnetic structures, i.e., regions with enhanced temperature are associated with coherent structures such as current sheets. Using Parker Solar Probe data from the first encounter, we study this association using measurements of radial proton temperature, employing the Partial Variance of Increments (PVI) technique to identify intermittent magnetic structures. We observe that the probability density functions of high-PVI events have higher median temperatures than those with lower PVI, The regions in space where PVI peaks were also locations that had enhanced temperatures when compared with similar regions suggesting a heating mechanism in the young solar wind that is associated with intermittency developed by a nonlinear turbulent cascade.n the immediate vicinity., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, part of ApJ special issue for PSP

On April 5, 2019, while the Parker Solar Probe was at its 35 solar radius perihelion, the data set collected at 293 samples/sec contained more than 10,000 examples of spiky electric-field-like structures having durations less than 200 milliseconds and amplitudes greater than 10 mV/m. The vast majority of these events was caused by plasma turbulence. Defining dust events as those having similar, narrowly peaked, positive, single-ended signatures, resulted in finding 135 clear dust events, which, after correcting for the low detection efficiently, resulted in an estimate consistent with the 1000 dust events expected from other techniques. Defining time domain structures (TDS) as those having opposite polarity signals in the opposite antennas resulted in finding 238 clear TDS events which, after correcting for the detection efficiency, resulted in an estimated 500-1000 TDS events on this day. The TDS electric fields were bipolar, as expected for electron holes. Several events were found at times when the magnetic field was in the plane of the two measured components of the electric field such that the component of the electric field parallel to the magnetic field was measured. One example of significant parallel electric fields shows the negative potential that classified them as electron holes. Because the TDS observation rate was not uniform with time, it is likely that there were local regions below the spacecraft with field-aligned currents that generated the TDS., Comment: First results from the Parker Solar Probe

During the Parker Solar Probe's (PSP) first perihelion pass, the spacecraft reached within a heliocentric distance of \(\sim 37~R_\odot\) and observed numerous magnetic and flow structures characterized by sharp gradients. To better understand these intermittent structures in the young solar wind, an important property to examine is their degree of correlation in time and space. To this end, we use the well-tested Partial Variance of Increments (PVI) technique to identify intermittent events in FIELDS and SWEAP observations of magnetic and proton-velocity fields (respectively) during PSP's first solar encounter, when the spacecraft was within 0.25 au from the Sun. We then examine distributions of waiting times between events with varying separation and PVI thresholds. We find power-law distributions for waiting times shorter than a characteristic scale comparable to the correlation time, suggesting a high degree of correlation that may originate in a clustering process. Waiting times longer than this characteristic time are better described by an exponential, suggesting a random memory-less Poisson process at play. These findings are consistent with near-Earth observations of solar wind turbulence. The present study complements the one by Dudok de Wit et al. (2020, present volume), which focuses on waiting times between observed "switchbacks" in the radial magnetic field.

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft has flown into the most dense and previously unexplored region of our solar system's zodiacal cloud. While PSP does not have a dedicated dust detector, multiple instruments onboard are sensitive to the effects of meteoroid bombardment. Here, we discuss measurements taken during PSP's first two orbits and compare them to models of the zodiacal cloud's dust distribution. Comparing the radial impact rate trends and the timing and location of a dust impact to an energetic particle detector, we find the impactor population to be consistent with dust grains on hyperbolic orbits escaping the solar system. Assuming PSP's impact environment is dominated by hyperbolic impactors, the total quantity of dust ejected from our solar system is estimated to be 1-14 tons/s. We expect PSP will encounter an increasingly more intense impactor environment as its perihelion distance and semi-major axis are decreased., Comment: 34 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables

A series of solar energetic particle (SEP) events were observed at Parker Solar Probe (PSP) by the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (\ISOIS) during the period from April 18, 2019 through April 24, 2019. The PSP spacecraft was located near 0.48 au from the Sun on Parker spiral field lines that projected out to 1 au within $\sim 25^\circ$ of near Earth spacecraft. These SEP events, though small compared to historically large SEP events, were amongst the largest observed thus far in the PSP mission and provide critical information about the space environment inside 1 au during SEP events. During this period the Sun released multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs). One of these CMEs observed was initiated on April 20, 2019 at 01:25 UTC, and the interplanetary CME (ICME) propagated out and passed over the PSP spacecraft. Observations by the Electromagnetic Fields Investigation (FIELDS) show that the magnetic field structure was mostly radial throughout the passage of the compression region and the plasma that followed, indicating that PSP did not directly observe a flux rope internal to the ICME, consistent with the location of PSP on the ICME flank. Analysis using relativistic electrons observed near Earth by the Electron, Proton and Alpha Monitor (EPAM) on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) demonstrates the presence of electron seed populations (40--300 keV) during the events observed. The energy spectrum of the \ISOIS~ observed proton seed population below 1 MeV is close to the limit of possible stationary state plasma distributions out of equilibrium. \ISOIS~ observations reveal the \revise{enhancement} of seed populations during the passage of the ICME, which \revise{likely indicates a key part} of the pre-acceleration process that occurs close to the Sun.

Since the launch on 2018/08/12, Parker Solar Probe (PSP) has completed its first and second orbits around the Sun, having reached down to 35.7 solar radii at each perihelion. In anticipation of the exciting new data at such unprecedented distances, we have simulated the global 3D heliosphere using an MHD model coupled with a semi-empirical coronal model using the best available photospheric magnetograms as input. We compare our heliospheric MHD simulation results with in situ measurements along the PSP trajectory from its launch to the completion of the second orbit, with particular emphasis on the solar wind structure around the first two solar encounters. Furthermore, we show our model prediction for the third perihelion, which occurred on 2019/09/01. Comparison of the MHD results with PSP observations provides a new insight on the solar wind acceleration. Moreover, PSP observations reveal how accurately the ADAPT-WSA predictions work throughout the inner heliosphere.

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observed an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) event during its first orbit around the sun, among many other events. This event is analyzed by applying a wavelet analysis technique to obtain the reduced magnetic helicity, cross helicity, and residual energy, the first two of which are magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) invariants. Our results show that the ICME, as a large scale magnetic flux rope, possesses high magnetic helicity, very low cross helicity, and highly negative residual energy, thus pointing to a magnetic fluctuation dominated structure. Using the same technique, we also search for small-scale coherent magnetic flux rope structures during the period from 2018/10/22--2018/11/21, which are intrinsic to quasi-2D MHD turbulence in the solar wind. Multiple structures with duration between 8 and 300 minutes are identified from PSP in-situ spacecraft measurements. The location and scales of these structures are characterized by wavelet spectrograms of the normalized reduced magnetic helicity, normalized cross helicity and normalized residual energy. Transport theory suggests that these small-scale magnetic flux ropes may contribute to the acceleration of charged particles through magnetic reconnection processes, and the dissipation of these structures may be important for understanding the coronal heating processes., Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, accepted in ApJS

The Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons experiment on the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission measures the three-dimensional electron velocity distribution function. We derive the parameters of the core, halo, and strahl populations utilizing a combination of fitting to model distributions and numerical integration for $\sim 100,000$ electron distributions measured near the Sun on the first two PSP orbits, which reached heliocentric distances as small as $\sim 0.17$ AU. As expected, the electron core density and temperature increase with decreasing heliocentric distance, while the ratio of electron thermal pressure to magnetic pressure ($\beta_e$) decreases. These quantities have radial scaling consistent with previous observations farther from the Sun, with superposed variations associated with different solar wind streams. The density in the strahl also increases; however, the density of the halo plateaus and even decreases at perihelion, leading to a large strahl/halo ratio near the Sun. As at greater heliocentric distances, the core has a sunward drift relative to the proton frame, which balances the current carried by the strahl, satisfying the zero-current condition necessary to maintain quasi-neutrality. Many characteristics of the electron distributions near perihelion have trends with solar wind flow speed, $\beta_e$, and/or collisional age. Near the Sun, some trends not clearly seen at 1 AU become apparent, including anti-correlations between wind speed and both electron temperature and heat flux. These trends help us understand the mechanisms that shape the solar wind electron distributions at an early stage of their evolution.

The first two orbits of the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft have enabled the first in situ measurements of the solar wind down to a heliocentric distance of 0.17 au (or 36 Rs). Here, we present an analysis of this data to study solar wind turbulence at 0.17 au and its evolution out to 1 au. While many features remain similar, key differences at 0.17 au include: increased turbulence energy levels by more than an order of magnitude, a magnetic field spectral index of -3/2 matching that of the velocity and both Elsasser fields, a lower magnetic compressibility consistent with a smaller slow-mode kinetic energy fraction, and a much smaller outer scale that has had time for substantial nonlinear processing. There is also an overall increase in the dominance of outward-propagating Alfv\'enic fluctuations compared to inward-propagating ones, and the radial variation of the inward component is consistent with its generation by reflection from the large-scale gradient in Alfv\'en speed. The energy flux in this turbulence at 0.17 au was found to be ~10% of that in the bulk solar wind kinetic energy, becoming ~40% when extrapolated to the Alfv\'en point, and both the fraction and rate of increase of this flux towards the Sun is consistent with turbulence-driven models in which the solar wind is powered by this flux.

Single wall carbon nanotubes cooled to cryogenic temperatures are outstanding electronic as well as nano-electromechanical model systems. To probe a largely unperturbed system, we measure a suspended carbon-nanotube device where the nanotube is grown in the last fabrication step, thus avoiding damage and residues from subsequent processing. In this ultra-clean device, we observe the transport spectrum and its interaction with nano-electromechanics over a wide gate voltage range and thereby over a wide range of coupling parameters between the quantum dot and the contact electrodes., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures

Using the transversal vibration resonance of a suspended carbon nanotube as charge detector for its embedded quantum dot, we investigate the case of strong Kondo correlations between a quantum dot and its leads. We demonstrate that even when large Kondo conductance is carried at odd electron number, the charging behaviour remains similar between odd and even quantum dot occupation. While the Kondo conductance is caused by higher order processes, a sequential tunneling only model can describe the time-averaged charge. The gate potentials of maximum current and fastest charge increase display a characteristic relative shift, which is suppressed at increased temperature. These observations agree very well with models for Kondo-correlated quantum dots., Comment: 5 figures

Potassium-40 (${}^{40}$K) is a background in many rare-event searches and may well play a role in interpreting results from the DAMA dark-matter search. The electron-capture decay of ${}^{40}$K to the ground state of ${}^{40}$Ar has never been measured and contributes an unknown amount of background. The KDK (potassium decay) collaboration will measure this branching ratio using a ${}^{40}$K source, an X-ray detector, and the Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory., Comment: TAUP 2017 - XV International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics

The in-place growth of suspended carbon nanotubes facilitates the observation of both unperturbed electronic transport spectra and high-Q vibrational modes. For complex structures integrating, e.g., superconducting rf elements on-chip, selection of a chemically and physically resistant material that survives the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process provides a challenge. We demonstrate the implementation of molybdenum-rhenium coplanar waveguide resonators that exhibit clear resonant behaviour at cryogenic temperatures even after having been exposed to nanotube growth conditions. The properties of the MoRe devices before and after CVD are compared to a reference niobium device., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, IWEPNM conference proceeding

We investigate Fabry-Perot interference in an ultraclean carbon nanotube resonator. The conductance shows a clear superstructure superimposed onto conventional Fabry-Perot oscillations. A sliding average over the fast oscillations reveals a characteristic slow modulation of the conductance as a function of the gate voltage. We identify the origin of this secondary interference in intervalley and intravalley backscattering processes which involve wave vectors of different magnitude, reflecting the trigonal warping of the Dirac cones. As a consequence, the analysis of the secondary interference pattern allows us to estimate the chiral angle of the carbon nanotube., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; supplementary information: 10 pages, 10 figures