Welcome to the research programme

Space Plasma Physics

• Juice -- ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, launched in 2023 for arrival at Jupiter in 2031, for which we lead the Radio, Plasma and Waves Investigation.
• Solar Orbiter -- ESAs mission to investigate the Sun at close distance, launched in February 10, 2020. We have provided parts of the RPW instrument to study the electric field in the solar wind close to its source.
• BepiColombo -- an ESA-JAXA (Europe-Japan) mission to Mercury, where we are responsible for the electronics and probe surfaces for the MEFISTO sensors of the PWI instrument on the magnetospheric orbiter. Launched in October 2018 for arrival at Mercury 2026. More on Bepi and MEFISTO at KTH.
• 4 x MMS -- NASA's Magnetospheric MultiScale mission, launched March 13, 2015, for which we provided sensor coating and test equipment for the electric field instruments built by the University of New Hampshire and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). More info on the SMART instrument suite for MMS at SwRI.
• 3 x Swarm -- ESA's three satellites for study of the geomagnetic field, launched in November 22, 2013. We provide instruments to measure the plasma density and temperature in the Earth's ionosphere.

• Comet Interceptor -- ESA's mission to a comet so new that it may not have been discovered even when we launch in 2029! Together with LPC2E in Orléans and a larger European collaboration we provide instrumentation for investigating the comet plasma environment.
• M-MATISSE -- the two-spacecraft Mars Magnetosphere ATmosphere Ionosphere and Space-weather SciencE mission ESA is preparing, in competition with two other missions for final selection in 2026. We are developing plasma instrumentation.
• Plasma Observatory -- ESA's proposed seven-spacecraft mission for understanding of space plasma physics at multiple scales. Still in competition with two other missions for final selection in 2026. We are developing electric field instrumentation.

• Cassini -- launched by NASA in 1997, explored the environment of Saturn 2004-2017, with our Langmuir probe onboard.
• 4 x Cluster -- our instruments explored Earth's magnetosphere on a flotilla of four ESA spacecraft, 2000-2024
• Rosetta -- carried our instrument in orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, launched by ESA in 2004, impact landing on the comet 30 September 2016.
• Smart-1 -- orbited the moon with our Langmuir probes onboard, launched September 2003, impact landing on the moon 3 September 2006
  
• Astrid-2 -- the Swedish microsatellite (only 29 kg) carrying our LINDA instrument to the Earth's upper ionosphere 1998-1999
• Freja -- detailed measurements of the Earth's upper ionosphere 1992-1996, including our wave investigations
• Viking -- exploring the Earth's magnetosphere 1986-1987 by means of our wave instrument (and of course other instruments as well)
• Numerous sounding rockets during the sixties, seventies, and eighties.

Who we are

As of 2024, this list is rarely updated. For the latest updated information, please head over to our contact page at: https://www.irf.se/en/kontakt/

• Mats André, PhD, professor (retd.)
• David Andrews, PhD, docent -- scientist, M-Matisse lead
• Jan Bergman, PhD -- scientist, Juice project manager
• Stephan Buchert, PhD -- scientist, Swarm lead
• Long Chen, PhD -- postdoc
• Andrew Dimmock, PhD -- scientist
  
• Niklas Edberg, PhD -- scientist, Comet Interceptor lead
  
• Anders Eriksson, PhD -- scientist
• Daniel Graham, PhD -- scientist
  
• Yuri Khotyaintsev, PhD, professor -- head of research programme, Plasma Observatory lead
  
• Vanina Lanabere, PhD -- postdoc
• Jinghuan Li, PhD -- postdoc
• Cecilia Norgren, PhD -- scientist
• Moa Persson, PhD -- postdoc
• Louis Richard, PhD -- postdoc
• Erik Vigren, PhD, docent -- scientist
• Jan-Erik Wahlund, PhD, docent -- Juice RPWI PI, BepiColombo lead CoI
• Mengmeng Wang, PhD -- postdoc
• Emiliya Yordanova, PhD -- scientist

• Ilona Benko, software engineer -- Juice
• Martin Berglund, PhD, research engineer -- electronics
• Vicki Cripps, research engineer -- PA/QA
• Jesper Fredriksson, research engineer -- analog electronics
• Reine Gill, research engineer -- flight s/w, s/c operations
• Niklas Hällback, research engineer -- mechanics
• Erik Johansson, PhD, research engineer -- data handling
• Jan Karlsson, programmer -- data archiving and computer system manager
• Björn Mårtensson, software engineer -- Juice
• Thomas Nilsson, research engineer -- data handling
• Dan Ohlsson, research engineer -- system engineer
• Walter Puccio, senior research engineer -- electronics
• Farid Shiva, engineer -- electronics design and manufacturing

• Jordi Boldu -- Solar Orbiter
• Konstantin Kim -- Titan's ionosphere
• Apostolos Kolokotronis -- Electron acceleration in magnetic reconnection
• Ida Svenningsson -- Electron heating in turbulent space plasma
• Jack White -- Electron Energisation by Magnetic Reconnection

See our student projects page:

What we do

We investigate what goes on in space using instruments we build ourselves and fly on spacecraft, ground based instruments, computer simulations and plasma theory. Here are some samples of our research:

• May 2022: In a paper in Nature Communications, Daniel Graham and co-workers have used the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites to actually measure the elusive phenomenon of anomalous resistivity.
• Dec 2019: In a paper in Physical Review Letters, our PhD student Konrad Steinvall have used the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites to demonstrate that electron space-phase holes can radiate whistler waves.
• Jan 2018: In a paper in Physical Review Letters, Lina Hadid and co-workers reveal the energy flow in the turbulence in the Earth's magnetosheath.
• Oct 2016: In a paper in Physical Review Letters, our PhD student Andreas Johlander have used the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites to find out the details of shock waves in space. See also our press release.
• Oct 2016: In a paper in Journal of Geophysical Research, our PhD student Elin Eriksson suggests new ways electrons can be accelerated in a shocked solar wind, based on the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellite data. The paper was selected as Editor's Highlight.
• May 2014: The properties of asymmetric magnetic reconnection, important for storage and release of magnetic energy in a variety of cosmic contexts, could be explored in detail with our and other instruments on ESA's Cluster satellites. The results were published in Physical Review Letters.
• Jul 2013: Magnetic reconnection can be more efficient in accelerating electrons to high energy when variable rather than steady, we show in a paper in Nature Physics.
• Aug 2012: Exploring the properties of thin sheets in space, we have for the first time been able to verify the properties of so called lower hybrid drift waves in space around Earth, using our instruments on the multi-spacecraft Cluster mission. The results were published in Physical Review Letters: see also our press release.
• Jan 2012: Cold plasma previously hidden in the magnetosphere is revealed by our instruments on the Cluster satellites in a study we publish in Geophysical Research Letters, also featured in National Geographic Daily News and an AGU news release.
• Jan 2012: We show that dusty plasma around Enceladus affects Saturn's magnetosphere. See the NASA mission news feature or the editor's highlight in Journal of Geophysical Research.
• Jul 2011: Plasma jets are common in the universe, and now we know the details of what happens when they hit an obstacle, using our instruments on the Cluster satellites in the Earth's magnetic tail. ESA highlights the study, published in Physical Review Letters.
• Oct 2010: Small pulse-like waves known as electron holes dwell at the heart of a magnetically explosion in space, known as reconnection, we show from our Cluster data in study in Physical Review Letters. See also our press release.
• Oct 2010: We contribute to a study in Science showing th at pulsating aurora is caused by waves in space known as chorus emissions. See also the National Geographic news feature.
• March 2010: Pressure fronts in the solar wind help erode the atmosphere of Mars, we show in Geophysical Research Letters. See also our press release.
• July 2009: How is the solar wind heated? Part of the answer is turbulence, as shown in a study in Physical Review Letters. See also NASA's and ESA's press releases.
• March 2009: Is space turbulent? Yes! In a study in Physical Review Letters, we present detailed Cluster studies of turbulence in space. See ESA's press release.
• Dec 2008: We have tracked a previously invisible ion wind from the Earth far out in space using Cluster. Published in Nature Geoscience, presented in our press release and in an ESA Cluster top story.
• March 2007: We found that magnetic field reconnection occurs in turbulent plasmas, too. Published in Nature Physics, presented in an ESA news feature.
• Nov 2006: We reveal the inner structure of a region of space close to a magnetic reconnection site. Published in Physical Review Letters.
  
• Aug 2005: We discovered Alfvén vortices, a kind of whirlpools in space, near the boundary of the Earth's magnetosphere. Published in Nature, presented in our press release and in an ESA news feature.
• May 2005: On arrival at Saturn, our Langmuir probe on Cassini immediately detected cold plasma around Titan and plasma interaction with ring dust. Published in Science and Geophysical Research Letters.
  

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last modified on Wednesday, 15-Jan-2025 13:56:46 CET