My interests center around the theoretical and computational study of plasma physics. The current foci of my research are the kinetic physics of magnetic reconnection, and its broader relation to plasma physics and nonlinear dynamics; Through changing the topology of magnetic field lines, magnetic reconnection is one of the most efficient energy conversion and transport processes in the laboratory, space, and astrophysical plasmas.
News & Events
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Nizar Ezroura and Parker Gardner presented a successful talk on their work with Assistant Professor Devin Walker at the MIT Summer Undergraduate Cosmology Workshop on August 2nd. In the picture, they are standing with Alan Guth, the eminent MIT professor. Their talk was entitled "The Limits of Dark Matter from Electroweak Symmetry Breaking."
Nizar Ezroura and Parker Gardner computed the amount of dark matter generated in the early universe for a common set of highly motivated dark...
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Congratulations to Mary Hudson for her recent recognition as the 2017 AGU John Adam Fleming Medalist. The Medal is given to honor “original research and technical leadership in geomagnetism, atmospheric electricity, aeronomy, space physics, and/or related sciences.”
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McKinley Brumback and Christina Gilligan received recognition at the annual Dartmouth Graduate Poster Session. Five students were recognized, including Brumback and Gilligan. Read more about it in the Dartmouth News.
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Computational Stellar Evolution focuses on the development of a two-dimensional computer models which predict the evolution of stars. These models will be used to study the effects of magnetic fields and rotation on the evolution of low mass stars. One application of these models is to study the lithium abundance in metal-poor stars to determine the primordial abundance of lithium, which is a key constraint on big bang nucleosynthesis.
FACULTY CONTACT:...
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Title: "The Hidden Monsters: New Windows on the Cosmic Evolution of Supermassive Black Holes" (Video)
Abstract: At the heart of essentially every large galaxy in the Universe lies a supermassive black hole. In the past decade, surveys of the extragalactic sky have made great progress in understanding the cosmic growth of these black holes, as they "eat" surrounding material and radiate as active galactic...
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Title: "Kinetic Plasma Turbulence in Space and Astrophysical Plasmas" (Video)
Abstract: Turbulence is a ubiquitous process in space and astrophysical plasmas that serves to mediate the transfer of large-scale motions to small scales at which the turbulence can be dissipated and the plasma heated. The nature of the dissipation and heating ultimately determines the...
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Title: "Kinetic Plasma Turbulence: New Insights Into Its Fundamental Nature and Implications for Fusion Energy" (Video)
Abstract: Turbulence is ubiquitous in both space and laboratory plasmas. These plasmas are often hot and/or diffuse, which requires the use of kinetic theory, the description of particle distribution functions in a high-dimensional phase space. ...
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Title: New Perspectives on Magnetic Reconnection — From Plasmoid Instability to Self-Generated Turbulence (Video)
Abstract: Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process that allows magnetic field lines to break the frozen-in constraint of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), changing magnetic topology while at the same time converting stored magnetic energy into plasma energy. It is generally...
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Title: Neutral Naturalness (Video)
Abstract: I explain the hierarchy problem of the standard model of particle physics, and discuss some of the ideas which have been put forward to resolve it. I then show that a specific class of theories, built around a framework known as neutral naturalness, can help address this problem while remaining consistent with all current experimental tests. I explain that while...
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