Prof. Stephen J. Bradshaw
Full Professor
Rice University
Physics and Astronomy
6100 Main Street
Houston
TX
77004
Email
stephen.bradshaw@rice.edu
Phone
7133484045
Website
Research interests
* Astrophysics of the Sun: heating in the solar atmosphere; onset and evolution of flares; acceleration of the slow solar wind; forward modeling and visualization; machine learning techniques for comparing predicted observables with instrument data; spectroscopic diagnostics.
* Fundamental Plasma Physics: fluid vs. kinetic approaches; energy transport; non-equilibrium and non-local processes; turbulence; ultra-cold and strongly-coupled plasmas in the laboratory.
* Numerical modeling: multi-fluid and hybrid (fluid/kinetic) methods; capturing multi-scales and cross-scale coupling; shocks and discontinuities; approximation schemes to increase speed and efficiency; adaptive grids.
* Fundamental Plasma Physics: fluid vs. kinetic approaches; energy transport; non-equilibrium and non-local processes; turbulence; ultra-cold and strongly-coupled plasmas in the laboratory.
* Numerical modeling: multi-fluid and hybrid (fluid/kinetic) methods; capturing multi-scales and cross-scale coupling; shocks and discontinuities; approximation schemes to increase speed and efficiency; adaptive grids.
Candidate's preferred background
A Ph.D. in solar physics or astrophysics with strong mathematical and computational elements. A thorough preparation in plasma physics. Knowledge of forward modeling, radiative processes (including use of atomic databases such as Chianti), and imaging and spectroscopic observations. Experience with numerical analysis and model development in C / C++. Some parallel programming (OpenMP, MPI) and Python would be helpful.