Philippa Browning

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Philippa Browning

FInstP
Born
Philippa K. Browning
Education Millfield [1]
Alma mater University of Cambridge (BA)
University of St Andrews (PhD)
Awards Chapman Medal (2016)
Scientific career
Fields Astrophysics
Solar physics
Institutions University of Manchester
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
Thesis Inhomogeneous magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere
Doctoral advisor Eric Priest [2]
Website www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/people/staff-spotlights/philippa-browning

Philippa K. Browning FInstP is a Professor of Astrophysics in the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. [3] She specialises in the mathematical modelling of fusion plasmas. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Browning was educated at Millfield [1] and studied the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 1979. [5] She completed Part III of the Mathematical Tripos in 1980. [6] She was inspired by Yuri Gagarin to work in astrophysics. [7] [8] For her graduate studies Browning joined the University of St Andrews working with Eric Priest. [9] [10] She submitted her thesis on Inhomogeneous Magnetic Fields in the Solar Atmosphere in 1984. [2]

Research and career

After completing her PhD Browning worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Eric Priest. [9] She studied coronal loops, finding they were a balance of magnetic tension forces, buoyancy and pressure gradients. [11] Her work covered the fundamentals of flux tubes. [12] Browning was appointed a lecturer at University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in 1985.[ citation needed ] She joined the University of Manchester in 2004, where she works on the interactions between plasmas and magnetic fields. [3] She is particularly interested in solar flares. [13] [14] [15] In 2009, Browning was promoted to professor at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. [4] She served as editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research from 2010 to 2013. [16] She contributed to the book Multi-scale Dynamical Processes in Space and Astrophysical Plasmas. [17] She continues to study coronal heating. [18] [19]

In 2013 Browning was made chair of the Institute of Physics Plasma Physics Committee and the Solar Physics Council. [20] Through the Solar Physics Council, Browning is a mentor for young solar physicists. [21] In 2014 Browning arranged two-day meeting to discuss coronal heating at the Royal Society. [22]

As of 2018 Browning is working on the Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe. [7] Browning has appeared at the Bluedot Festival. She discussed her work on solar flares and their interaction with the earth. [23] She has taken part in the Manchester Science Festival. [24] Browning serves on the Institute of Physics Women in Physics advisory panel. [25]

Awards and honours

Browning was awarded the Chapman Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society in 2016. [26] [27] The medal recognised her "pioneering work on energy release by magnetic relaxation in stressed coronal magnetic fields". [28] In 2017 she was awarded a Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) research grant to explore particle acceleration in twisted magnetic fields. [29] She was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP).[ when? ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stellar corona</span> Outermost layer of a stars atmosphere

A corona is the outermost layer of a star's atmosphere. It consists of plasma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar wind</span> Stream of charged particles from the Sun

The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between 0.5 and 10 keV. The composition of the solar wind plasma also includes a mixture of materials found in the solar plasma: trace amounts of heavy ions and atomic nuclei of elements such as C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Fe. There are also rarer traces of some other nuclei and isotopes such as P, Ti, Cr, 54Fe and 56Fe, and 58Ni, 60Ni, and 62Ni. Superimposed with the solar-wind plasma is the interplanetary magnetic field. The solar wind varies in density, temperature and speed over time and over solar latitude and longitude. Its particles can escape the Sun's gravity because of their high energy resulting from the high temperature of the corona, which in turn is a result of the coronal magnetic field. The boundary separating the corona from the solar wind is called the Alfvén surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar flare</span> Eruption of electromagnetic radiation

A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phenomena. The occurrence of solar flares varies with the 11-year solar cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronal mass ejection</span> Ejecta from the Suns corona

A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant ejection of magnetic field and accompanying plasma mass from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted theoretical understanding of these relationships has not been established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfvén wave</span> Low-frequency plasma wave

In plasma physics, an Alfvén wave, named after Hannes Alfvén, is a type of plasma wave in which ions oscillate in response to a restoring force provided by an effective tension on the magnetic field lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Parker</span> American solar physicist (1927–2022)

Eugene Newman Parker was an American solar and plasma physicist. In the 1950s he proposed the existence of the solar wind and that the magnetic field in the outer Solar System would be in the shape of a Parker spiral, predictions that were later confirmed by spacecraft measurements. In 1987, Parker proposed the existence of nanoflares, a leading candidate to explain the coronal heating problem.

Eric Ronald Priest is Emeritus Professor at St Andrews University, where he previously held the Gregory Chair of Mathematics and a Bishop Wardlaw Professorship.

In magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), shocks and discontinuities are transition layers where properties of a plasma change from one equilibrium state to another. The relation between the plasma properties on both sides of a shock or a discontinuity can be obtained from the conservative form of the MHD equations, assuming conservation of mass, momentum, energy and of .

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronal loop</span> Arch-like structure in the Suns corona

In solar physics, a coronal loop is a well-defined arch-like structure in the Sun's atmosphere made up of relatively dense plasma confined and isolated from the surrounding medium by magnetic flux tubes. Coronal loops begin and end at two footpoints on the photosphere and project into the transition region and lower corona. They typically form and dissipate over periods of seconds to days and may span anywhere from 1 to 1,000 megametres in length.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanoflare</span> Type of episodic heating event

A nanoflare is a very small episodic heating event which happens in the corona, the external atmosphere of the Sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supra-arcade downflows</span> Sunward-traveling plasma voids observed in the Sun’s outer atmosphere

Supra-arcade downflows (SADs) are sunward-traveling plasma voids that are sometimes observed in the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, during solar flares. In solar physics, arcade refers to a bundle of coronal loops, and the prefix supra indicates that the downflows appear above flare arcades. They were first described in 1999 using the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) on board the Yohkoh satellite. SADs are byproducts of the magnetic reconnection process that drives solar flares, but their precise cause remains unknown.

Jiong Qiu (邱炯) is a Chinese-born American astrophysicist who won the Karen Harvey Prize for her work in solar flares.

Katharine Reeves is an astronomer and solar physicist who works at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA).. She is known for her work on high temperature plasmas in the solar corona, and measurement/analysis techniques to probe the physics of magnetic reconnection and thermal energy transport during solar flares; these are aspects of the coronal heating problem that organizes a large part of the field. She has a strong scientific role in multiple NASA and international space missions to observe the Sun: Hinode ; IRIS ; SDO; Parker Solar Probe; and suborbital sounding rockets including the MaGIXS and Hi-C FLARE high-resolution spectral imaging packages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Glesener</span> American astrophysicist

Lindsay Erin Glesener is a professor in the Institute for Astrophysics at the University of Minnesota. She is a National Science Foundation CAREER Award researcher and lead investigator on the FOXSI Sounding Rocket.

Lyndsay Fletcher is a Scottish astrophysicist at the University of Glasgow who specialises in solar flares.

Lidia van Driel-Gesztelyi is a Hungarian solar scientist and professor of physics at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory of University College London. She also maintains affiliations with Solar and Stellar Activity Research Team at Konkoly Observatory of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Space Research Laboratory (LESIA) of Paris Observatory. She has been Editor-in-Chief of the journal Solar Physics since 2005 and has served in leadership roles within the International Astronomical Union.

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References

  1. 1 2 Browning, Philippa (2017). "Q&A Philippa Browning". Astronomy & Geophysics. 58 (1): 1.43. doi: 10.1093/astrogeo/atx029 . ISSN   1366-8781.
  2. 1 2 Browning, Philippa K. (1984). Inhomogeneous magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere (PhD thesis). University of St Andrews. hdl:10023/3830. OCLC   890152927. EThOS   uk.bl.ethos.349463. Lock-green.svg
  3. 1 2 "Philippa Browning". University of Manchester. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Prof Philippa Browning". University of Manchester. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "MSAS Our Programme". msas.org.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "Young Researchers". www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Philippa Browning: Science and Engineering". University of Manchester. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  8. ↑ Anon (9 August 2016), Women of Wonder: Prof Philippa Browning , retrieved 16 September 2018– via YouTube
  9. 1 2 Priest, E. R. (2014). "A Life of Fun Playing with Solar Magnetic Fields (Special Historical Review)". Solar Physics. 289 (10): 3579–3615. arXiv: 1405.3481 . Bibcode:2014SoPh..289.3579P. doi:10.1007/s11207-014-0554-2. ISSN   0038-0938. S2CID   119269151.
  10. ↑ "Conference honours Professor". news.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  11. ↑ Browning, P. K.; Priest, E. R. (1986). "The shape of buoyant coronal loops in a magnetic field and the eruption of coronal transients and prominences". Solar Physics. 106 (2): 335–351. Bibcode:1986SoPh..106..335B. doi:10.1007/bf00158500. ISSN   0038-0938. S2CID   122021661.
  12. ↑ Browning, P. K.; Priest, E. R. (1983). "Structure of twisted magnetic flux tubes". Astrophysical Journal. 266 (2): 848–865. Bibcode:1983ApJ...266..848B. doi:10.1086/160833. ISSN   0004-637X.
  13. ↑ Iliadis, Dennis; Gullo, Bill; Wakefield, Rhys; Miller, Logan; Hinshaw, Ashley; Hall, Natalie, Plus One, ISBN   978-0788617539, OCLC   867735697
  14. ↑ "Philippa Browning on Solar Flares". Durham University. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  15. ↑ Zharkova, V. V.; Arzner, K.; Benz, A. O.; Browning, P.; Dauphin, C.; Emslie, A. G.; Fletcher, L.; Kontar, E. P.; Mann, G. (2011). "Recent Advances in Understanding Particle Acceleration Processes in Solar Flares". Space Science Reviews. 159 (1–4): 357–420. arXiv: 1110.2359 . Bibcode:2011SSRv..159..357Z. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.749.591 . doi:10.1007/s11214-011-9803-y. ISSN   0038-6308. S2CID   119206279.
  16. ↑ "Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics". agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  17. ↑ Leubner, Manfred P.; Vörös, Zoltán (2012). Multi-scale Dynamical Processes in Space and Astrophysical Plasmas. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN   9783642304415.
  18. ↑ De Moortel, Ineke; Browning, Philippa (2015). "Recent advances in coronal heating". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 373 (2042): 20140269. arXiv: 1510.00977 . Bibcode:2015RSPTA.37340269D. doi:10.1098/rsta.2014.0269. ISSN   1364-503X. PMC   4410557 . PMID   25897095.
  19. ↑ Moortel, Ineke De; Browning, Philippa (2015). "Recent advances in coronal heating". Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. 373 (2042): 20140269. arXiv: 1510.00977 . Bibcode:2015RSPTA.37340269D. doi:10.1098/rsta.2014.0269. ISSN   1364-503X. PMC   4410557 . PMID   25897095.
  20. ↑ "Synergy between Solar and Tokamak Plasma Theory". University of Warwick. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  21. ↑ "Mentors". uksolphys.org. UK Solar Physics. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  22. ↑ Anon (2014). "New approaches in coronal heating". royalsociety.org. London: Royal Society . Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  23. ↑ "Philippa Browning". discoverthebluedot.com. Bluedot Festival. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  24. ↑ "8 Minutes". Manchester Science Festival. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  25. ↑ "WIPG Advisory Panel". iop.org. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  26. ↑ Hollis, Morgan (2016). "Winners of the 2016 awards, medals and prizes – full details". ras.org.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  27. ↑ "STFC-supported scientists awarded for geophysics and astronomy work". stfc.ukri.org. Science and Technology Facilities Council. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  28. ↑ Anon (2016). "Royal Astronomical Society medals go to IOP members". iop.org. Institute of Physics. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  29. ↑ Anon (2017). "Grant winners – 20 April 2017". Times Higher Education . Retrieved 16 September 2018.
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