Correlation of Diffusion Upstream of Shocks with Their Magnetic Compression: An Application of IMAP’s Living Catalog of Interplanetary Shocks
11 affiliations
- 1Princeton University
- 2Department of Physics
- 3University of Alabama in Huntsville
- 4Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
- 5Los Alamos National Laboratory
- 6University of New Hampshire
- 7NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- 8California Institute of Technology
- 9National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- 10Department of Planetary Sciences
- 11University of Delaware
Abstract
We apply an automated routine to detect and catalog interplanetary shocks observed by the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP). Using this catalog, we derive the upstream diffusion coefficient corresponding to 1 MeV protons along each shock’s normal direction using second-order quasi-linear theory and unified nonlinear transport theory to get the parallel and perpendicular components of the diffusion coefficient tensor, respectively. We show that the magnetic compression, as a proxy for shock strength, of fast forward shocks is statistically correlated with the upstream diffusion coefficient (Pearson correlation of 0.81 ± 0.13 and p -value of 0.014), suggesting that magnetic compression is related to the processes governing particle acceleration and particle transport near interplanetary shocks. This result is consistent with several possible interpretations, including changes in upstream turbulence, particle reflection, acceleration processes whose efficiency depends on shock compression and geometry, or a combination of these effects. We host the interplanetary shock catalog on the IMAP mission’s publicly available webpage and plan to regularly update it for use by the heliophysics community.
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BibTeX
@article{cuesta2026correlation,
title = {{Correlation of Diffusion Upstream of Shocks with Their Magnetic Compression: An Application of IMAP’s Living Catalog of Interplanetary Shocks}},
author = {M. E. Cuesta and T. S. Horbury and J. S. Rankin and N. Subashchandar and L. Zhao and D. Turner and S. Raptis and H. A. Farooki and B. L. Shrestha and D. J. McComas and N. A. Schwadron and E. R. Christian and M. Gkioulidou and C. M. S. Cohen and S. Kasapis and L. Y. Khoo and N. K. Walia and R. N. Jain and S. Pak and M. M. Shen and E. J. Zirnstein and J. R. Szalay and G. Livadiotis and N. V. Sarlis and J. G. Mitchell and Z. Xu and G. D. Muro and J. Giacalone and W. H. Matthaeus and G. P. Zank},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3847/1538-4365/aea973},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/aea973},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Correlation of Diffusion Upstream of Shocks with Their Magnetic Compression: An Application of IMAP’s Living Catalog of Interplanetary Shocks
AU - M. E. Cuesta
AU - T. S. Horbury
AU - J. S. Rankin
AU - N. Subashchandar
AU - L. Zhao
AU - D. Turner
AU - S. Raptis
AU - H. A. Farooki
AU - B. L. Shrestha
AU - D. J. McComas
AU - N. A. Schwadron
AU - E. R. Christian
AU - M. Gkioulidou
AU - C. M. S. Cohen
AU - S. Kasapis
AU - L. Y. Khoo
AU - N. K. Walia
AU - R. N. Jain
AU - S. Pak
AU - M. M. Shen
AU - E. J. Zirnstein
AU - J. R. Szalay
AU - G. Livadiotis
AU - N. V. Sarlis
AU - J. G. Mitchell
AU - Z. Xu
AU - G. D. Muro
AU - J. Giacalone
AU - W. H. Matthaeus
AU - G. P. Zank
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
DO - 10.3847/1538-4365/aea973
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/aea973
AB - We apply an automated routine to detect and catalog interplanetary shocks observed by the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP). Using this catalog, we derive the upstream diffusion coefficient corresponding to 1 MeV protons along each shock’s normal direction using second-order quasi-linear theory and unified nonlinear transport theory to get the parallel and perpendicular components of the diffusion coefficient tensor, respectively. We show that the magnetic compression, as a proxy for shock strength, of fast forward shocks is statistically correlated with the upstream diffusion coefficient (Pearson correlation of 0.81 ± 0.13 and p -value of 0.014), suggesting that magnetic compression is related to the processes governing particle acceleration and particle transport near interplanetary shocks. This result is consistent with several possible interpretations, including changes in upstream turbulence, particle reflection, acceleration processes whose efficiency depends on shock compression and geometry, or a combination of these effects. We host the interplanetary shock catalog on the IMAP mission’s publicly available webpage and plan to regularly update it for use by the heliophysics community.
SN - 0067-0049
SN - 1538-4365
ER -