Nonlinear processes in heliospheric plasma: models and observations

We present the scientific objectives of the research project `Nonlinear processes in heliospheric plasma: models and observations', co-financed by the Italian Ministry for Universities and Scientific Research, as well as a summary of some of the results obtained. The objective of the proposal was a detailed study of the nonlinear and dissipation-scale dynamics of heliospheric plasmas. The project focused on the study of wave propagation and properties of turbulence at the various scales, from the macroscopic scales of the solar wind, down to the microscopic scales of magnetic reconnection and turbulence dissipation, in its two aspects of evolutionary internal dynamics, and its effects on the transport of energetic particles of both heliospheric and extra-solar origins (cosmic rays, interstellar neutrals ionized in the solar wind as pickup ions).