Who Am I?

I am a PhD student in applied mathematics at Newcastle University. I am working in the field of astrophysical fluid dynamics, specifically looking at the solar tachocline. My supervisors are Dr Toby Wood and Professor Paul Bushby and my work is funded by Newcastle University. I began studying my PhD in September 2022.

The (current) title of my PhD is “Instabilities in the Solar Tachocline”. The aim is to model the various instabilities which may arise in the tachocline using both analytical and numerical techniques. The big picture is to hopefully (at least help) answer why sunspots are only seen at latitudes of around 35 degrees north and south of the solar equator, but never on the equator or at the poles.

I did an integrated masters degree at Newcastle University in theoretical physics from 2017 to 2021, graduating with 1st Class Honours. My dissertation was entitled “Modelling a Finite Temperature Quantum Fluid” and examined the behaviour of a quantum fluid at non-zero temperatures where a condensate and thermal cloud co-exist. I worked under the supervision of Professor Nikolaos Proukakis to derive equations which describe how these two regions interact with one another, using basic principles of quantum field theory such as second quantisation.

My Academic Interests

I am primarily interested in:

• The solar tachocline

• MHD instabilities (such as magnetic buoyancy instability, magnetorotational instability and tearing instability)

• Solar dynamo theory

I am also interested in (though I don't currently study):

• Quantum fluids (I did my masters dissertation on finite temperature quantum fluids)

• Classical hydrodynamics/ fluid dynamics

• General astrophysical fluid dynamics

• Astrophysics & cosmology

I am a member of the following organisations:

• Institute of Physics - Member since 2021 (associate member from 2018-2021)

• Royal Astronomical Society - Fellow since 2023

• UCU - Student member since 2022