Kristopher Klein

PTYS/LPL Faculty

Kristopher Klein

Assistant Professor
Solar and Heliospheric Research, Theoretical Astrophysics, Parker Solar Probe
Ph.D., 2013, University of Iowa

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520-621-2806

Kuiper 431

Years with LPL: 2017

Dr. Klein's research focuses on studying fundamental plasma phenomena that governs the dynamics of systems within our heliosphere as well as more distant astrophysical bodies. He has particular interest in identifying heating and energization mechanisms in turbulent plasmas, such as the Sun's extended atmosphere known as the solar wind, as well as evaluating the effects of the departure from local thermodynamic equilibrium on nearly collisionless plasmas which are ubiquitous in space environments.

These systems are studied with a combination of analytic theory and numerical simulation, including large-scale nonlinear turbulence codes such as AstroGK and HVM. These theoretical predictions are compared to in situ observations from spacecraft including NASA's Wind and MMS and the upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. By comparing theory with local plasma measurements, we aim to answer a variety of questions about the behavior of plasma in our solar system.

View LPL Evening Lecture from September 12, 2018, Visiting Our Sun: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Solar Atmosphere using Parker Solar Probe

Current Grants

Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP): NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission; member of Science, Theory, and Modeling Team
Assessing the Relative Importance of Stochastic and Resonant Ion Heating the Solar Wind, NASA Heliophysics Supporting Research Program
Non-Maxwellian Distribution Functions in the Solar Wind: Dispersion Relations and Instabilities, NASA Heliophysics Supporting Research Program
Improved Characterization of Solar Wind Dissipation, Energization, and Stability, NASA Heliophysics Early Career Investigator Program

Refereed publications (NASA ADS): Calendar Years 2017 through July 2019

Martinović, M. M., Klein, K. G., Bourouaine, S. Radial Evolution of Stochastic Heating in Low-β Solar Wind 2019ApJ...879...43M

Kasper, J. C., Klein, K. G. Strong Preferential Ion Heating is Limited to within the Solar Alfvén Surface 2019ApJ...877L..35K

Li, T. C., Howes, G. G., Klein, K. G., Liu, Y.-H., TenBarge, J. M. Collisionless Energy Transfer in Kinetic Turbulence: Field-Particle Correlations in Fourier Space 2019arXiv190409334L

Matthaeus, W. H., Bandyopadhyay, R., Brown, M. R., Borovsky, J., Carbone, V., Caprioli, D., Chasapis, A., Chhiber, R., Dasso, S., Dmitruk, P., Del Zanna, L., Dmitruk, P. A., Franci, L., Gary, S. P., Goldstein, M. L., Gomez, D., Greco, A., Horbury, T. S., Ji, H., Kasper, J. C., Klein, K. G., Landi, S., Li, H., Malara, F., Maruca, B. A., Mininni, P., Oughton, S., Papini, E., Parashar, T. N., Petrosyan, A., Pouquet, A., Retino, A., Roberts, O., Ruffolo, D., Servidio, S., Spence, H., Smith, C. W., Stawarz, J. E., TenBarge, J., Vasquez1, B. J., Vaivads, A., Valentini, F., Velli, M., Verdini, A., Verscharen, D., Whittlesey, P., Wicks, R., Bruno, R., Zimbardo, G. [Plasma 2020 Decadal] The essential role of multi-point measurements in turbulence investigations: the solar wind beyond single scale and beyond the Taylor Hypothesis 2019arXiv190306890M

Klein, K. G., Alexandrova, O., Bookbinder, J., Caprioli, D., Case, A. W., Chandran, B. D. G., Chen, L. J., Horbury, T., Jian, L., Kasper, J. C., Le Contel, O., Maruca, B. A., Matthaeus, W., Retino, A., Roberts, O., Schekochihin, A., Skoug, R., Smith, C., Steinberg, J., Spence, H., Vasquez, B., TenBarge, J. M., Verscharen, D., Whittlesey, P. [Plasma 2020 Decadal] Multipoint Measurements of the Solar Wind: A Proposed Advance for Studying Magnetized Turbulence 2019arXiv190305740K

TenBarge, J. M., Alexandrova, O., Boldyrev, S., Califano, F., Cerri, S. S., Chen, C. H. K., Howes, G. G., Horbury, T., Isenberg, P. A., Ji, H., Klein, K. G., Krafft, C., Kunz, M., Loureiro, N. F., Mallet, A., Maruca, B. A., Matthaeus, W. H., Meyrand, R., Quataert, E., Perez, J. C., Roberts, O. W., Sahraoui, F., Salem, C. S., Schekochihin, A. A., Spence, H., Squire, J., Told, D., Verscharen, D., Wicks, R. T. [Plasma 2020 Decadal] Disentangling the Spatiotemporal Structure of Turbulence Using Multi-Spacecraft Data 2019arXiv190305710T

Chen, C. H. K., Klein, K. G., Howes, G. G. Evidence for electron Landau damping in space plasma turbulence 2019NatCo..10..740C

Verscharen, D., Klein, K. G., Maruca, B. A. The multi-scale nature of the solar wind 2019arXiv190203448V

van der Holst, B., Manchester, W. B., Klein, K. G., Kasper, J. C. Predictions for the First Parker Solar Probe Encounter 2019ApJ...872L..18V

Klein, K. G., TenBarge, J., Spence, H. Testing the Utility of a Swarm of Spacecraft to Study Magnetized Turbulence 2019AAS...23337003K

Bookbinder, J., Spence, H., Klein, K. G. Revealing the Multiscale Nature of Turbulence with a Spacecraft Swarm 2019AAS...23317109B

Hoppock, I. W., Chandran, B. D. G., Klein, K. G., Mallet, A., Verscharen, D. Stochastic proton heating by kinetic-Alfvén-wave turbulence in moderately high- plasmas 2018JPlPh..84f9015H

Vech, D., Klein, K. G., Kasper, J. C. Large-scale Control of Kinetic Dissipation in the Solar Wind 2018ApJ...863L...4V

Wilson, L. B., III, Stevens, M. L., Kasper, J. C., Klein, K. G., Maruca, B. A., Bale, S. D., Bowen, T. A., Pulupa, M. P., Salem, C. S. The Statistical Properties of Solar Wind Temperature Parameters Near 1 au 2018ApJS..236...41W

Vech, D., Mallet, A., Klein, K. G., Kasper, J. C. Magnetic Reconnection May Control the Ion-scale Spectral Break of Solar Wind Turbulence 2018ApJ...855L..27V

Howes, G. G., McCubbin, A. J., Klein, K. G. Spatially localized particle energization by Landau damping in current sheets produced by strong Alfvén wave collisions 2018JPlPh..84a9005H

Vech, D., Klein, K. G., Kasper, J. C. Nature of Stochastic Ion Heating in the Solar Wind: Testing the Dependence on Plasma Beta and Turbulence Amplitude 2017ApJ...850L..11V

Klein, K. G., Kasper, J. C., Korreck, K. E., Stevens, M. L. Applying Nyquist's method for stability determination to solar wind observations 2017JGRA..122.9815K

Howes, G. G., McCubbin, A. J., Klein, K. G. Using Field-Particle Correlations to Show that Landau Damping Leads to Spatially Intermittent Particle Energization in Current Sheets 2017APS..DPPNP11158

Klein, K. G., Howes, G. G., Tenbarge, J. M. Diagnosing collisionless energy transfer using field-particle correlations: gyrokinetic turbulence 2017JPlPh..83d5301K

Klein, K. G. Characterizing fluid and kinetic instabilities using field-particle correlations on single-point time series 2017PhPl...24e5901K

Howes, G. G., Klein, K. G., Li, T. C. Diagnosing collisionless energy transfer using field-particle correlations: Vlasov-Poisson plasmas 2017JPlPh..83a7002H