Authors: Evan Shimoun (University of Michigan), Susan T. Lepri (University of Michigan), Jim M. Raines (University of Michigan), Ryan M. Dewey (University of Michigan)

Within the solar wind, in particular in the fast solar wind, heavy ions, such as carbon and oxygen, flow at different speeds than the protons and from each other. This difference in flow speed between two such ion species is called differential streaming. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial for gaining deeper insights into the acceleration of the solar wind and the local plasma processes in the heliosphere. Differential streaming may have potential implications for how we trace solar wind back to its origin in the corona. Currently we make the assumption that all the plasma components of the solar wind travel together as they escape the Sun. However, differential streaming may affect the composition of the solar wind due to the various ions moving at differing speeds, resulting in plasma in one parcel of measured solar being displaced to other parcels of solar wind. Therefore, in this project, we are studying multiple species of heavy ions and examining their differential streaming in relation to O6+, the velocity of which is typically used to characterize the bulk speed of the solar wind. We are examining the statistical properties of this differential streaming and their associated solar wind structures to learn more about the origins of differential streaming as a whole. Through this analysis we are seeking to learn more about what processes in the solar wind and heliosphere cause differential streaming and thus discover more about how differential streaming influences the solar wind itself.