2026年秋季英文授课 - Solar Physics

Description

The Sun, the massive object that dominates the solar system and helps to support life on Earth, is also the driver of physical processes in the space environment between the Sun and the Earth, known as space weather. The practical importance of space weather is to mitigate its adverse effects on critical human technological systems, including satellites, their payloads and astronauts, communications, navigations, power grids, etc. This course is focused on the fundamentals as well as the recent progress in solar physics, to prepare graduate students for the space research in general. It includes the basic physical processes governing the formation of the solar interior and atmosphere, the solar magnetic field and configuration, the physical bases of flares and coronal mass ejections, and particle acceleration mechanisms. This introductory course is intended for graduate students and upper-level undergraduate students with academic background in physics/astrophysics. This course spans 40 class hours and merits 2 credits.

Grading

• Homework (30%): to reinforce the understanding of basic physical concepts. Students who fail to turn in the their work on time will face a penalty --- a 0.9 factor is applied to the score for each day late, i.e., your score = nominal score x (0.9)ⁿ, n being the numer of days delayed.

• Project (30%): three projects focusing on data analysis and numerical models will be assigned, in order for students to get some hands-on experience.

• Presentation (15%): relevant research articles will be assigned for further readings. Each enrolled student is expected to give one presentation based on, but not limited strictly to, these assigned articles. Each presentation will last 15 minutes, including 3-min Q&A.

• Final test (20%): an open-book test on physical concepts and intuition. But no computers and cellphones are allowed.

• Participation (5%): scores given based on class attendence, raising/answering questions in class.

Text Book

“Physics of the Sun: A First Course" by Dermott J. Mullan (CRC Press, 2nd edtion, 2022)

References

• "Eruptions on the Sun" by Boris Fillipov, Springer, 2024

• 太阳磁学（张洪起），科学出版社，2024

• 太阳磁流体力学（毛信杰），科学出版社，2023

• "The Sun as a Guide to Stellar Physics" edited by Oddbjorn Engvold, Jean-Claude Vial, and Andrew Skumanich,  Elsevier, 2019

• "Magnetohydrodynamics of the Sun" by E.R. Priest, Cambridge University Press, 2014
  

• "The Sun: An Introduction" by M. Stix, Springer, 2nd Edition, 2002

• "Solar Astrophysics" by P. V. Foukal, Wiley-VCH, 2nd Edition, 2004

• "Physics of the Solar Corona" by M. Aschwanden, Springer, 2006

• "The Solar Corona" by L. Golub and J. Pasachoff, Cambridge University Press, 2nd Edition, 2010

• "The Solar Transition Region" by J. T. Mariska, Cambridge University Press, 1992

Lectures

1. Introduction (Chap 1)

2. Radiation (Chaps 2, 4)

3. Absorption (Chap 3)

4. Photosphere & Convection Zone (Chaps 5, 6, 7)

5. Polytrope (Chap 10)

6. Helioseismology (Chaps 13, 14)

7. Chromosphere & Transition Region (Chap 15)

8. Solar Magnetism (Chap 16)

9. Corona (Chap 17)

10. Solar Eruptions

Projects 

1. Photosphere model

2. Polytrope model & Oscillations in polytropes

3. PFSS model

Presentation (TBD) 

Midterm

1. Hotta & Hatta 2026, Nature Astronomy, The prevalence of solar-like differential rotation in slowly rotating solar-type stars

2. Rao et al. 2024, Nature Astronomy, Height-dependent differential rotation of the solar atmosphere detected by CHASE

3. Stangalini et al. 2021, Nature Astronomy, Torsional oscillations within a magnetic pore in the solar photosphere

4. Yu et al. 2024, Nature Astronomy, Detection of long-lasting aurora-like radio emission above a sunspot

5. Hanson et al. (2024), Nature Astronomy, Supergranular-scale solar convection not explained by mixing-length theory

6. Buldgen et al. 2025, Nature Communications, Helioseismic inference of the solar radiative opacity

7. Kuridze et al. (2026), Nature, Ubiquitous Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities driving plasma mixing on the Sun

8. Anan et al. 2024, Nature Communications, Magnetic diffusion in solar atmosphere produces measurable electric fields

9. Jess et al. 2020, Nature Astronomy, A chromospheric resonance cavity in a sunspot mapped with seismology

10. Lindsey & Braun 2020, Science, Seismic Images of the Far Side of the Sun

11. Laurent et al. 2020, Science, Meridional flow in the Sun's convection zone is a single cell in each hemisphere

12. Vasil et al. 2024, Nature, The solar dynamo begins near the surface

13. Warnecke et al. 2023, Nature Astronomy, Numerical evidence for a small-scale dynamo approaching solar magnetic Prandtl numbers

14. Reinhold et al. 2020, Science, The Sun is less active than other solar-like stars

Final

1. Bose et al. 2024, Nature Astronomy, Chromospheric and coronal heating in an active region plage by dissipation of currents from braiding
   

2. Kerr et al. 2026, Nature Astronomy, Spatial variation of energy transport mechanisms within solar flare ribbons

3. Ye et al. 2026, Nature Communications, Propagating slow-mode shocks discovered in dynamical solar flare loops

4. Kusano et al. 2020, Science, A physics-based method that can predict imminent large solar flares

5. Kumar et al. 2024, Nature Communications, Direct imaging of magnetohydrodynamic wave mode conversion near a 3D null point on the sun

6. Ashfield et al. 2026, Nature Astronomy, Spectroscopic observations of solar flare pulsations driven by oscillatory magnetic reconnection

7. Gou et al. 2026, Nature Astronomy, Multi-viewpoint observation of a failed prominence eruption on the Sun

8. Fleishman et al. 2026, Nature Astronomy, Megaelectronvolt-peaked electrons in a coronal source of a solar flare

9. Zessner et al. 2026, Nature Astronomy, Self-consistent numerical simulations for the formation and dynamics of solar prominences

10. Namekata et al. 2025, Nature Astronomy, Discovery of multi-temperature coronal mass ejection signatures from a young solar analogue

11. Ma et al. 2026, Nature Communications, Imaging spectroscopy reveals spike-like repeating radio burst pairs in the solar corona

12. Patel et al. 2025, Nature Astronomy, Direct in situ observations of eruption-associated magnetic reconnection in the solar corona

13. Yardley et al. 2024, Nature Astronomy, Multi-source connectivity as the driver of solar wind variability in the heliosphere

14. Rivera et al. 2024, Science, In situ observations of large-amplitude Alfvén waves heating and accelerating the solar wind