Tangled Magnetic Fields in Astro- and Plasma Physics

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Tangled Magnetic Fields in Astro- and Plasma Physics

 15 - 19 Oct 2012

ICMS, 15 South College Street Edinburgh

Scientific Organisers:

  • Konrad Bajer, University of Cambridge
  • Mitchell Berger, University of Exeter
  • Steve Cowley, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
  • Andrew Gilbert, University of Exeter
  • Gunnar Hornig, University of Dundee
  • Clare Parnell, University of St Andrews

About:

This workshop was a satellite event of the Topological Dynamics in the Physical and Biological Sciences programme at the Isaac Newton Institute. The event focused on research exploiting topological and geometrical concepts in the study of the morphology and evolution of magnetic fields in astrophysics and plasma physics. Moreover, the workshop examined aspects of magnetohydrodynamics and activities of the Isaac Newton Institute TOD Programme.

Speakers:

  • Keith Moffatt, University of Cambridge - Relaxation to Magnetostatic Equilibria of Complex Topology: A Review

  • De Witt Sumners, Florida State University - Flux Tube Reconnection and Helicity Conservation

  • Joachim Birn, Space Science Institute - Energy Release and Transfer by Magnetic Reconnection in Current Sheets

  • Antonia Wilmot-Smith, University of Dundee - Heating of Braided Coronal Loops

  • Alan Title, Lockheed Martin Advance Technology Center - Solar Collective Behaviour

  • Alexander Schekochihin, University of Oxford - Plasmoid Reconnection and Saturated State of the Turbulent Dynamo

  • Steve Cowley, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy - Stochastic Magnetic Fields in Fusion 

  • William Daughton, Los Alamos National Laboratory - Tangled Magnetic Fields in Collisionless Reconnecting Plasmas

  • Mark Cheung, Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory - Data-Driven Modelling of Magnetic Field Evolution in the Solar Corona

  • Florin Spineanu, National Institute of Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics - The Ideal Versus the Reality: Topology and Turbulence in the Current Density in Tokamak

  • Andrew Thornton, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy - The Effect of Tangled Magnetic Fields on Instabilities in Tokamak Plasmas

  • Bart Van Compernolle, University of California - Morphology and Dynamics of Kink-Unstable Flux Ropes

  • Shiva Kumar Malapaka, University of Leeds - Inverse Cascade of Magnetic Helicity

  • Clare Parnell, University of St Andrews - The Topological Evolution of Complex 3D Magnetic Fields

  • Renzo L Ricca, University of Milano-Bicocca - Topological Bounds on the Energy and Complexity of Magnetic Fields

  • Yoshifumi Kimura, Nagoya University - Magnetic Field Generated by Current Filaments

  • Mitchell Berger, University of Exeter - Self-Organized Braiding of Magnetic Fields

  • Sarah Gibson, National Center for Atmospherical Research - Magnetism and the Invisible Man: the Mysteries of Coronal Cavities

  • David Pontin, University of Dundee - Current Singularities at 3D Magnetic Null Points and the Implications for the Solar Corona

  • Nobumitsu Yokoi, University of Tokyo - Cross Helicity Effect in Dynamo and Reconnection

  • Walter Gekelman, University of California - Flux Ropes, Quasi Seperatrix Layers and 3D Reconnection

  • Jack Campbell, University of Exeter - A Geometrical Understanding of Helicity in a Spherical Geometry

  • Madalina Vlad, National Institute of Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics - Magnetic Field Line Diffusion and Helicity in Stochastic Magnetic Fields

  • Gunnar Hornig, University of Dundee - Relaxation of Braided Magnetic Fields

  • Michael Hesse, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - The Role of Geometry in Magnetic Reconnection

  • Anthony Yeates, Durham University - Unique Topological Characterisation of Magnetic Braids

  • Daniel Lathrop, University of Maryland - Learning About Magnetic Fields and Vortices from Experiments in Metallic Sodium and Liquid Helium

  • Nicolas Plihon, CNRS - Von-Kàrmàn Sodium Dynamos: Dynamics, Flow Topology and Boundary Conditions 

  • Thomas Kephart, Vanderbilt University & Isaac Newton Institute - Generalized Aharonov-Bohm Effect

  • Roman Buniy, Chapman University - Covariant Helicity and Beltrami Fields

  • Michael Proctor, University of Cambridge - Mean-Field Electrodynamics at Moderate and Large Magnetic Reynolds Numbers

  • Shigeo Kida, Doshisha University - A Turbulent Ring and MHD Dynamo in a Precessing Sphere

  • Antoine Riols, Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie - Of Tangles and Magnetic Fields: Global Bifurcations to Subcritical Magnetorotational Dynamo Action

  • Steven Tobias, University of Leeds - Measurement of the Turbulent Diffusivity of a Magnetic Field: the Turbulent Angstrom Method and the Method of Oscillatory Sines

  • Natalia Tronko, University of Warwick - Magneto-Rotational Instability and Generalised Energy Principle

  • Christina Davies, University of Leeds - Short Wavelength Magnetic Buoyancy Instability

  • David Dritschel, University of St Andrews - 2D MHD Turbulence at Zero Magnetic Prandtl Number

  • Dana Longcope, Montana State University - A Topological Bound on the Energy Stored in the Tangled Magnetic Field of a Coronal Active Region

  • Laurel Rachmeler, University of St Andrews - What Can We Learn About the Magnetic Field From Coronal Linear Polarization Measurements?

  • Daniel Kagan, University of Texas - Three Dimensional Simulations of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in Pair Plasmas

  • Tomoo Yokoyama, Hokkaido University - Word Representation of Streamline Topologies for Structurally Stable Vortex Flows in Multiply Connected Domains

  • Michael Monastyrsky, Isaac Newton Institute - Classification of Phases and Linked Defects in Superfluids and Neutron Stars

  • Rob Kusner, University of Massachusetts - Chirality for Curves (and More?)

  • Clayton Shonkwiler, University of Georgia - Generalized Gauss Maps and Triple Linking Integrals

  • Asher Yahalom, Isaac Newton Institute - Variational Principles of MHD with Non Trivial Topology

  • Jason Cantarella, University of Georgia - Helicity and Configuration Spaces

  • Stephen Watson, University of Glasgow - Evolving Nanofaceted Crystals: From Emergent Symmetries, via the Principle of Maximal Dissipation a la Onsager, to Universal Morphometrics

  • Simon Candelaresi, Nordita - Topological Restrictions in Magnetic Field Dynamics and Reconnection

  • Jean-Luc Thiffeault, University of Wisconsin - The Structure of Random Braids

  • Konrad Bajer, University of Cambridge - Magnetic Relaxation in Low-Beta Plasma

  • Jason Parsley, Wake Forest University - The Geometry of the Taylor Problem