Two-year postdoctoral position in solar physics (IRAP, Toulouse, France)

Annonce transmise par Victor Réville (IRAP)

IRAP (Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology) in Toulouse, France, is hiring a postdoctoral researcher for a duration of two years.

The position is funded through the ANR grant SOLSTICES (solar wind dynamical structures, jets and switchbacks, emergence and evolution), which aims at a better understanding of recent discoveries of the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter. In particular, The postdoc will address the formation of solar jets through processes like flux emergence and cancellation followed by tearing mediated magnetic reconnection, in the spirit of Gannouni, Réville & Rouillard 2023 (ApJ).

The postdoc shall also tackle the evolution of non linear, large scale, Alfvén waves in the turbulent solar wind. These simulations will help us understand under which conditions jets and other types of waves can give birth to stable (i.e., constant |B|) non linear switchbacks in the expanding solar wind.

The project is led by Dr Victor Reville, CNRS researcher at IRAP, in collaboration with the local heliophysics team (A. Rouillard, P. Louarn, B. Lavraud). IRAP is PI of the Proton & Alpha Sensor instrument onboard Solar Orbiter, with a very strong culture in instrument building, data analysis and conservation. A significant part of the project is dedicated to data analysis and numerical simulations will aim at reproducing observations as much as possible. The project is also associated with national and international experts on reconnection, turbulence and kinetic processes (A. Tennerani, M.E. Innocenti, M. Velli, É. Buchlin).

The simulations will rely on the Godunov type MHD code PLUTO and Idefix, which is a novel multi-platform MHD code based on the Kokkos library. With Idefix, we will take advantage of GPU acceleration on local and national clusters. PIC simulations could be considered as well in collaboration with M.E. Innocenti (U. Bochum).

The candidates shall possess a PhD in astrophysics, plasma physics or related field. We look for motivated, curious and physics driven candidates. Experience in numerical simulation is a strong plus. Applicants shall send an e-mail with a CV, publication list and references (at least two) to vreville(at)irap.omp.eu. The position will remain open until filled, with priority for applications received before end of June.

Gross salary: 35/40 k€/yr depending on experience.