Simulating heliospheric and solar particle diffusion

Abstract

Cosmic ray transport in curved background magnetic fields is investigated using numerical Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Special emphasis is laid on the solar system, where the curvature of the magnetic field can be described in terms of the Parker spiral. Using such geometries, parallel and perpendicular diffusion coefficients have to be redefined using the arc length of the field lines as the parallel displacement and the distance between field lines as the perpendicular displacement. Furthermore, the turbulent magnetic field is incorporated using a WKB approach for the field strength. Using a test particle simulation, the diffusion coefficients are then calculated by averaging over a large number of particles starting at the same radial distance from the Sun and over a large number of turbulence realizations, thus enabling one to infer the effects due to the curvature of the magnetic fields and associated drift motions.