Title and Abstract

Title:  The Interplanetary Propagation of Coronal Mass Ejections: Recent Development and Path Forward   

Abstract:  After coronal mass ejections (CMEs) leave the upper corona, CME studies usually enter the realm of space weather, as many researchers believe that most of the “interesting” physical processes have already finished when a CME reaches ~0.1 AU. However, there are numerous key physical problems associated with CME propagation that have been investigated in the past decade with numerical simulations and observational techniques. Here, I discuss the recent progress for key questions related to CME propagation (i) the formation of their sheath regions, (ii) CME expansion, and (iii) the coherence of CME magnetic field. I finish by highlighting some key remaining problems associated with CME evolution and variation over “intermediate" distances of 0.05-0.3 AU.