Instabilities in Solar Prominences
Deadline Friday 29th July 2016
Prominences and their on-disk counterpart (filaments) constitute the largest structures close to the surface of the Sun. They contain a relatively dense hydrogen dominated plasma and can become suspended above the solar surface by a complicated magnetic field. In addition, they can erupt suddenly and impact upon the Earth’s magnetosphere leading to space weather phenomena. What triggers this eruption remains unclear. It is thought that MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) instabilities (such as the Kelvin-Helmholtz, magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor, vortices etc) play an important role in prominence/filament dynamics. This PhD project will investigate prominence instabilities, life-cycles and connectivity using observations at the highest resolution from international, ground-based solar telescope facilities. The PhD project will also involve the application of advanced 3D numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations for further understanding of the onset of plasma instabilities in prominences.
It is expected that the student has either a degree in Mathematics and/or Physics. Experience with coding in a scientific language (e.g., C, C+, IDL, Python) will be looked upon favourably. The PhD project will be a three-year joint venture between Northumbria University (Newcastle, UK), Armagh Observatory (Northern Ireland) and the IAC (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Canary Islands, Spain). The candidate will spend the majority of their time at Northumbria University and part of the project will be spent at the other institutes.
Eligibility and How to Apply:
Please note eligibility requirement:
• Academic excellence of the proposed student has at least an upper second-class degree (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities) with a preference for 1st class honors; or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
For further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form, see:
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/
Start Date: 3rd October 2016
Contact: eamon.scullion@northumbria.ac.uk
https://www.findaphd.com/search/projectdetails.aspx?PJID=76062&LID=2712