Solar and Magnetospheric Plasma Theory
Lead Research Organisation:
University of St Andrews
Department Name: Mathematics and Statistics
Abstract
In the present Rolling Grant application the Solar and Magnetospheric Theory Group (SMTG) of the University of St Andrews asks for funding to investigate fundamental physical processes occurring in the solar atmosphere and the magnetosphere. The research topics we want to investigate using plasma theory are: i) the emergence of new magnetic flux through the solar surface into the solar atmosphere, ii) the use of MHD waves to deduce properties of the coronal plasma and magnetic field (coronal seismology), iii) the physical mechanisms which keep the corona much hotter than the lower parts of the solar atmosphere (coronal heating), iv) magnetic reconnection, a process of extreme importance for energy release of magnetised plasmas, v) solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which are the most powerful manifestations of solar magnetic activity and vi) the physics of ultra-low frequency waves in the Earth's magnetosphere and how they contribute to the acceleration of electrons causing the aurora.
Organisations
- University of St Andrews (Lead Research Organisation)
- Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (Collaboration)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (Collaboration)
- University of Copenhagen (Collaboration)
- HARVARD UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- University of Oslo (Collaboration)
- Université Catholique de Louvain (Collaboration)
- University of Dundee (Collaboration)
- Fluid Gravity Engineering (Collaboration)
- Montana State University (Collaboration)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW (Collaboration)
- Eotvos Lorand University (Collaboration)
- University of Catania (Collaboration)
- Ruhr University Bochum (Collaboration)
- Utrecht University (Collaboration)
- Observatory of Paris (Collaboration)
Publications
Scoffield H
(2007)
An investigation of the field-aligned currents associated with a large-scale ULF wave in the morning sector
in Planetary and Space Science
Smyrli A
(2010)
Trend of photospheric magnetic helicity flux in active regions generating halo coronal mass ejections
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Subramanian S
(2008)
Magnetic topology of blinkers
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Titov V
(2009)
SLIP-SQUASHING FACTORS AS A MEASURE OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Van Ballegooijen A. A.
(2007)
Model for the coupled evolution of subsurface and coronal magnetic fields in solar active regions
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Verwichte E
(2010)
PERIODIC SPECTRAL LINE ASYMMETRIES IN SOLAR CORONAL STRUCTURES FROM SLOW MAGNETOACOUSTIC WAVES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Von Rekowski B
(2008)
Photospheric cancelling magnetic features and associated phenomena in a stratified solar atmosphere
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Von Rekowski B
(2008)
Solar coronal heating by magnetic cancellation - III. Thermodynamics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wiegelmann T
(2007)
Optimization approach for the computation of magnetohydrostatic coronal equilibria in spherical geometry
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wilmot-Smith A
(2007)
Magnetic reconnection in flux-tubes undergoing spinning footpoint motions
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wilmot-Smith A
(2007)
Flux tube disconnection: An example of three-dimensional reconnection
in Physics of Plasmas
Wilmot-Smith A
(2009)
Dynamic non-null magnetic reconnection in three dimensions-II: composite solutions
in Geophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics
Wright A
(2008)
Simulations of Alfvén waves in the geomagnetic tail and their auroral signatures
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Wright A
(2008)
Downward current electron beam observed by Cluster and FAST
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Yeates A
(2009)
INITIATION OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS IN A GLOBAL EVOLUTION MODEL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Yeates A
(2010)
A nonpotential model for the Sun's open magnetic flux
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Yeates A
(2007)
Modelling the Global Solar Corona II: Coronal Evolution and Filament Chirality Comparison
in Solar Physics
Yeates A
(2010)
COMPARISON OF A GLOBAL MAGNETIC EVOLUTION MODEL WITH OBSERVATIONS OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Yeates A
(2007)
Modelling the Global Solar Corona: Filament Chirality Observations and Surface Simulations
in Solar Physics
Yeates A
(2008)
Modelling the Global Solar Corona: III. Origin of the Hemispheric Pattern of Filaments
in Solar Physics
Yeates A. R.
(2008)
Evolution and distribution of current helicity in full-Sun simulations
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Yeates Anthony R.
(2008)
Exploring the physical basis of solar cycle predictions: Flux transport dynamics and persistence of memory in advection-versus diffusion-dominated solar convection zones
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Description | EU FP7 Project |
Amount | £88,160 (GBP) |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 02/2011 |
End | 01/2014 |
Description | Research Project Grant |
Amount | £109,109 (GBP) |
Organisation | The Leverhulme Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2010 |
End | 05/2013 |
Description | Rolling Grant Continuation |
Amount | £2,072,581 (GBP) |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2010 |
End | 03/2015 |
Description | Collisionless Reconnection |
Organisation | National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) |
Department | Goddard Space Flight Center |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | We provided calculations of initial states and carried out first simulations of collisionless reconnection in force-free current sheets (Harrison, PhD thesis, St. Andrews, 2010). |
Collaborator Contribution | Provision of numerical codes and expertise, apart from general research collaboration |
Impact | PhD thesis Mike Harrison, 2010 (funded by PPARC/STFC Quota award) Leverhulme Project Grant awarded 2010 Hesse et al., Space Science Reviews 2011 (published online already) |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | Dundee |
Organisation | University of Dundee |
Department | Division of Mathematics |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Provision of expertise and codes, joint supervision of PhD students, joint seminars, exchange of ideas |
Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of ideas, joint seminars, joint supervision of PhD students, provision of expertise and codes |
Impact | Numerous joint papers |
Description | Global Coronal Modelling |
Organisation | Harvard University |
Department | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a longstanding collaboration on numerical models of the global coronal magnetic field. Our research group has made numerous contributions to the development of the codes and to the scientific output of this collaboration. |
Collaborator Contribution | Expertise in solar physics and code development |
Impact | This collaboration has resulted in more than 10 refereed research papers since its start. The collaboration has also had a very positive impact on the thesis work of several of our groups PhD students. |
Description | MSU Collaboration |
Organisation | Montana State University |
Department | Department of Physics |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Research expertise, numerical codes |
Collaborator Contribution | Numerous collaborations on solar physics, in particular coronal heating, magnetic reconnection, but also other areas such as dynamo theory and global coronal magnetic fields |
Impact | Numerous joint publications, visits of PhD students |
Description | Max-Planck Lindau |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Numerous contributions to joint papers and conference contributions, provision of codes and expertise |
Collaborator Contribution | Provision of codes and expertis |
Impact | Joint papers on coronal magnetic field models and on magnetic reconnection and topology |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | Catholic University of Louvain |
Department | Institute of Mathematics and Physics |
Country | Belgium |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | Eotvos Lorand University |
Department | Faculty of Science |
Country | Hungary |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | Fluid Gravity Engineering |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands |
Country | Spain |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | Observatory of Paris |
Country | France |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | Ruhr University Bochum |
Department | Faculty of Physics and Astronomy |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | University of Catania |
Department | Department of Physics and Astronomy |
Country | Italy |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | University of Copenhagen |
Department | Niels Bohr Institute |
Country | Denmark |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Department | Physics and Astronomy Department |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | University of Oslo |
Department | Department of Physics |
Country | Norway |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | SOLAIRE |
Organisation | Utrecht University |
Department | Department of Physics and Astronomy |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | SOLAIRE is an EU Research Training Network and we have made numerous contributions to the research carried out within the network. We were also involved in the joint supervision f three SOLAIRE funded PhD students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration on code development |
Impact | Two PhDs completed, one thesis to be submitted A large number of research papers and conference contributions |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | Solar Flare Particle Acceleration |
Organisation | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Provided expertise on theory of solar flare particle acceleration |
Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of expertise, one refereed publication so far |
Impact | One refereed publication |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | Solar Flare Particle Acceleration |
Organisation | National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) |
Department | Goddard Space Flight Center |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Provided expertise on theory of solar flare particle acceleration |
Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of expertise, one refereed publication so far |
Impact | One refereed publication |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | Solar Flare Particle Acceleration |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Department | Physics and Astronomy Department |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Provided expertise on theory of solar flare particle acceleration |
Collaborator Contribution | Exchange of expertise, one refereed publication so far |
Impact | One refereed publication |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | Careers Scotland Space School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | About 100 secondary school pupils (S4) attended the three talks, which where followed by discussions and questions NA |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
Description | Edinburgh International Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Several talks and demonstration were held, which were attended by more than 100 hundred pupils of various age groups and members of the general public NA |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
Description | International Heiiospheric Year Lecture Series |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Over a hundred members of the public attended the series of three lectures, which where organised in St. Andrews, Glasgow and Dundee. NA |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007,2008 |
Description | Press Releases |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | The group regularly issues press releases on interesting research through the University of St. Andrews Press Office. Press releases are often followed by invitations to public talks, to schools etc |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010 |
Description | Space School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 60 Primary 6 pupils attended the talk (plus a few teachers). The talk was followed by a quiz and we handed out materials (posters, stickers CD Roms, DVDs) Many teachers asked about possibilities for incorporating materials provided into their curriculum |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008,2009,2010,2011 |
Description | Sun-Trek |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Sun|trek is an educational website about the Sun, our star, and its effect on the Earth's environment. It has been produced by a team of solar research scientists, working with teachers and educators. It is closely linked to the UK school curriculum. Stalls at Edinburgh Science Festival and Moray Science Festival |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010 |
Description | Talk Probus Club Tayport |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | About 30 retired business people attended the talk, followed by questions and discussion. NA |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |