At at altitudes of about 85 km above the surface of the Earth, the atmosphere has become so thin that molecules of air that are regularly ionized due to cosmic rays and UV radiation from the sun stay ionized because there is not enough air for them to recombine.  Earth’s so-called ‘ionosphere’ is thus established as a layer that lies above about 100-km altitude.  At even higher altitudes, the atmosphere is completely ionized, and consists of electrons, proton and ions, that freely move under the influence of the Earth’s magnetic field, in this region of near-Earth space that is called the Magnetosphere.  In addition to being fully ionized and thus consisting of relatively low energy electrons, protons and ions, this region also hosts extremely high energy (tens of keV to tens of MeV) electrons and protons that are trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field,  constituting the so-called ‘radiation belts’.

The physics of radiation belts is of great practical interest for our technological environment.  All electronic equipment on  Earth-orbiting satellites are subject to degredation due to exposure to the high energy radiation, limiting the useful lifetimes of spacecraft.  The understanding of the dynamics of the radiation belts is thus of high practical interest.

The lifetimes of energetic electrons and protons that constitute the trapped radiation are controlled by high speed injections from the sun in the form of the ‘Solar Wind’ and loss of particles as a result of wave-particle interactions with electromagnetic waves.   The physics of these interactions involve some of the most complex manifestations of plasma physics.

In June 2019, a major new satellite known as the Demonstration Sciences Experiment (DSX) was launched into a highly elliptical orbit by the SpaceX Falcon/Heavy rocket from Cape Canevaral, Florida.  This Spacecraft carried unique Very Low Frequency Transmiter and Receivers, built by Professor Umran Inan’s group at Stanford University, during 2003-2007.   DSX was successfully placed in its highly specialized orbit and operated until June 2021,  collecting one of a kind data on electromagnetic waves in the near-Earth space environment.  Only a small fraction (<10%<) of this data has been analyzed so far, with the rest available in its entirety in the hands of Professor Inan.

Between January 2021 through June 2022, Koç University student Ahmet Hamdi Ünal worked on this project under the supervision of Professor Umran Inan, developing specialized MATLAB tools for the analysis of this unique data.  Hamdi Ünal has completed his studies at Koç University, graduating in June 2022, with dual degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics, with ranking 1st in his class in the Electrical Engineering Department and 2nd in his class at Koç University at large.    He is now pursuing a PhD in Physics at Cambridge University.

To continue this research Professor Inan is seeking a bright and motivated MS and/or PhD student,  highly qualified in Physics and Engineering as well as in the usage of MATLAB for Spectral and other analyses.  Professor Inan has supervised the PhD theses and graduated 60 PhD students during his career at Stanford, and has served as President of Koç University during 2009-2021.  Now that he is retired from his administrative duties, he will be devoting his full time on his academic studies, teaching and research.