Mani K Chettri
PhD Scholar in Physics
Fourth-year doctoral researcher at Sikkim University, studying kinetic Alfvén wave turbulence in space plasmas. My work combines pseudospectral simulations of modified Zakharov equations with multi-mission spacecraft data from NASA MMS, Wind, Parker Solar Probe, and ISRO Aditya-L1 to understand how energy dissipates at kinetic scales in the solar wind and magnetosphere.
Supervisors: Dr. Hemam Dinesh Singh (NSUT, New Delhi) & Dr. Rupak Mukherjee (Sikkim University, IUCAA)
ORCID: 0009-0000-1368-9263
Recent Work
PLASMAform: Interactive Space Plasma Formulary
Released an open-source browser tool with 46 formulas, KAW diagnostics, instability thresholds, and spacecraft presets. Try it ↗
PSBL KAW Turbulence
Inertial-range suppression and ponderomotive density cavitation under PSBL conditions using modified NLSE simulations. arXiv:2603.14436 ↗
MMS Observations of KAW in Outer PSBL
Kinetic Alfvén wave turbulence and steep kinetic-range spectra from MMS burst-mode data. arXiv:2603.07969 ↗
Damped KAW in Earth's Magnetosheath
Numerical simulations of Landau-damped KAWs compared with MMS magnetosheath observations. arXiv:2512.09828 ↗
Weibel Instability Across Astrophysical Shocks
Weibel instability analysis in collisionless plasmas across astrophysical and laboratory shock environments. arXiv:2603.12747 ↗
Research Interests
Kinetic Alfvén Wave Turbulence
Dispersive wave dynamics, energy cascades, spectral scaling at sub-ion scales
Nonlinear Wave Coupling
KAW and ion acoustic wave interactions via modified Zakharov equations
Spacecraft Data Analysis
Multi-mission studies using MMS, Wind, Parker Solar Probe, and Aditya-L1
Numerical Methods
Pseudospectral solvers, split-step Fourier, MPI-parallelised codes on HPC clusters
Magnetospheric Physics
Plasma sheet boundary layer dynamics, magnetosheath wave activity
Solar Wind Turbulence
Dissipation mechanisms, wave-particle interactions, turbulence anisotropy
Education
PhD in Physics
Sikkim University, Gangtok
Thesis: Numerical Study of Nonlinear Plasma Phenomena in the Heliosphere
MSc in Physics
Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology
BSc Physics (Honours)
Nar Bahadur Bhandari Degree College, Tadong
Research
My doctoral research focuses on kinetic Alfvén wave (KAW) turbulence in the heliosphere. I develop pseudospectral simulations of modified Zakharov equations that govern the nonlinear coupling of KAWs with ion acoustic and magnetosonic waves, and validate the results against in-situ spacecraft measurements. The central question is how energy cascades from large MHD scales down to kinetic scales, where it is dissipated as plasma heating.
PhD Research Objectives
Numerical Simulations and Model Validation
Perform pseudospectral simulations of nonlinear plasma phenomena and validate against Parker Solar Probe, Wind, and MMS observations.
KAW Turbulence in the Magnetosphere
Study turbulent signatures of kinetic Alfvén waves in Earth's plasma sheet boundary layer and magnetosheath using simulations and MMS data.
Nonlinear Wave Coupling in the Inner Heliosphere
Investigate coupled dynamics of KAWs and ion acoustic waves using two-fluid models and compare with near-Sun spacecraft data.
Beta-Dependent Spectral Analysis
Explore sensitivity of dispersive Alfvén waves to plasma beta across different heliospheric and magnetospheric regimes.
Methodology
Theoretical Models
Two-fluid MHD, modified Zakharov equations, kinetic theory, nonlinear Schrödinger formulations with Landau damping
Numerical Methods
Pseudospectral with 2/3-dealiasing, 4th-order Runge-Kutta, split-step Fourier, MPI-parallelised solvers on IUCAA HPC
Observational Validation
Multi-mission spacecraft data (MMS, Wind, PSP, Aditya-L1) via PySPEDAS; spectral and statistical comparison
Spacecraft Missions
MMS
Magnetospheric Multiscale
Wind
Solar wind at 1 AU
Parker Solar Probe
Inner heliosphere
Aditya-L1
L1 Lagrange point (ISRO)
Technical Skills
Programming
Python, Fortran, MATLAB, LaTeX, HTML/JS
Scientific Libraries
NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, PySPEDAS, mpi4py, mpi4py-fft
HPC and Parallel Computing
MPI parallelisation, IUCAA HPC cluster
Simulation Techniques
Pseudospectral, split-step Fourier, Runge-Kutta (RK4)
Journal Articles
Nonlinear coupling of kinetic Alfvén waves and ion acoustic waves in the inner heliosphere
Chettri, M. K., Shrivastav, V., Mukherjee, R., Gaur, N., Sharma, R., & Singh, H. D. (2024). Res. Astron. Astrophys., 24(10), 105009.
Preprints
Damped kinetic Alfvén waves in Earth's magnetosheath: numerical simulations and MMS observations
Chettri, M. K., Singh, H. D., Shrivastav, V., Singh, B., & Mukherjee, R. (2025). arXiv:2512.09828.
Inertial-range suppression and ponderomotive density cavitation in broadband sub-Alfvénic turbulence under plasma sheet boundary layer conditions
Chettri, M. K., Shrivastav, V., Singh, B., Mukherjee, R., & Singh, H. D. (2025). arXiv:2603.14436.
MMS observations of kinetic Alfvén wave turbulence and steep kinetic-range spectra in the outer plasma sheet boundary layer
Chettri, M. K., Singh, H. D., & Mukherjee, R. (2026). arXiv:2603.07969.
Suppression of two stream instability in relativistic electron-ion plasmas
Shrivastav, V., Chettri, M. K., Singh, H. D., & Mukherjee, R. (2025). arXiv:2508.14362.
Weibel instability in collisionless plasmas across astrophysical and laboratory shocks
Shrivastav, V., Chettri, M. K., Singh, H. D., Singh, B., & Mukherjee, R. (2026). arXiv:2603.12747.
A validated analysis workflow for near-Earth spacecraft plasma observations: methodology, quality controls, and systematic error assessment
Chettri, M. K., Shrivastav, V., Singh, B., Mukherjee, R., & Singh, H. D. (2026). SSRN 6394663.
Manuscripts in Preparation
- • Solar wind KAW turbulence using Wind spacecraft data with validated NLSE simulation framework
- • PLASMAform software paper for Journal of Open Research Software
- • Physics textbook for competitive examinations (NEET, JEE, Olympiad) with Dr. R. Mukherjee
Software
PLASMAform
An interactive web-based formulary for space plasma physics research.
46 formulas across 9 categories. Dedicated KAW diagnostics, instability thresholds, reconnection parameters, spacecraft environment presets for MMS, Wind, PSP, and Aditya-L1. Runs as a single HTML file with no installation required.
46
Formulas
10
KAW Diagnostics
5
Spacecraft Presets
4
Instabilities
Resources
Guides and reference materials prepared for the space physics research community. All resources are freely available.
PySPEDAS Installation Guide
Step-by-step installation instructions for PySPEDAS 2.x on Linux (Ubuntu) and Windows. Covers Python setup, virtual environments, PySPEDAS and pytplot installation, and verification. Includes a troubleshooting table for common issues.
PySPEDAS Fix and Migration Guide (v1.x to v2.x)
Detailed guide for updating existing PySPEDAS scripts from version 1.x to 2.x. Covers the reorganised mission import paths, the get_data migration from pytplot to pyspedas, a standard script template, pre-run checklist, and common error fixes.
Coming Soon
- • PySPEDAS data analysis tutorial for MMS burst-mode magnetic field and plasma data
- • Pseudospectral simulation setup guide for KAW turbulence studies
Activities
Conference Presentations
2026
Upcoming
European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics (EPS-2026)
Abstract accepted
2026
Oral
Trends in Science and Space Technology (TIST-2026)
Salesian College, Siliguri
Oral presentations: Damped Kinetic Alfvén Waves in Earth's Magnetosheath: Numerical Simulations and MMS Observations.
Jan 2026
Poster
5th Conference on Plasma Simulation (CPS-2026)
IPS Academy and IIT Indore, India
Poster on KAW turbulence simulations in the plasma sheet boundary layer with MMS comparison.
Dec 2025
Oral
XV PANE Conference 2025
Nagaland University, Lumami, India
Oral presentation: Turbulent Signatures of Kinetic Alfvén Waves in Earth's Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer.
Workshops
Dec 2025
Aditya-L1 Support Cell Workshop
IIT Jammu, India · Organised by ISRO
Three-day workshop on solar wind data analysis using Aditya-L1 data products (ASPEX, PAPA, MAG) through ISSDC/PRADAN.
Teaching
Physics Teacher
Ascend Coaching, Gangtok
Science Teacher
St. Mary's Convent School, West Sikkim
Mathematics Tutor
Grace Academy, Gangtok
Leadership
President, Convention on Climate Change
Namchi Degree College
President, Physicist Meet
Manan Kendra, Gangtok
Contact
If you have questions about my work, are interested in a collaboration, or would like to discuss space plasma physics, please get in touch.
Details
Address
Department of Physics
School of Physical Sciences
Sikkim University
6th Mile, Samdur, P.O. Tadong
Gangtok, Sikkim 737102, India
Supervisors
Dr. Hemam Dinesh Singh (NSUT, New Delhi)
Dr. Rupak Mukherjee (Sikkim University, IUCAA)