The magnetic field of the Earth protects us from the continual supersonic flow of hot plasma from the Sun, known as the solar wind. The resulting region dominated by the geomagnetic field is called the magnetosphere. The conditions within the magnetosphere, often referred to as space weather, are strongly affected by the highly variable solar wind flow. Commonplace variations in the direction of the solar wind magnetic field can drastically affect the interconnection of the magnetic systems of the Earth and the Sun caused by magnetic reconnection. These variations govern the particle and energy flow into the polar region of the ionosphere, which can be seen from the ground as the Aurora Borealis.
Larger changes can cause geomagnetic storms and substorms.
Magnetospheric storms are less frequent but more intense and can extend over several hours or even days. The causal sequence that leads to geomagnetic sto rms and substorms, and the processes that allow energy and momentum from the solar wind to enter the magnetosphere, are the focus of a newly proposed multiagency federal research initiative to develop space weather forecasting. Collaborators Charles C. Goodrich, Michael Wiltberger, and David McNabb, University of Maryland John G. Lyon, Dartmouth College Steve Brecht, Bay Area Research S. Sanielevici, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center M. Rosencrantz, Cornell Theory Center Acknowledgments Funding from NSF and the NASA Global Geoscience Program. Across the MetaCenter Einstein's theory of gravity, known as general relativity, is a complex set of nonlinear partial differential equations. The researchers have developed full 3D parallel codes that run on a set of heterogeneous supercomputers to solve these equations for t he gravitational field.