Research

My current research focuses on a meter-scale plasma instability predicted to occur throughout the colder regions in the Sun’s atmosphere. This instability, the Thermal Farley-Buneman Instability (TFBI), causes turbulence and heating which might help explain discrepancies between models and observations. My focus is on simulating the TFBI, and applying the linear theory of the TFBI.

In the past I have worked on topics including Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effects in the Cosmic Microwave Background, halo relaxation statistics, and ultracold atomic physics. I have also researched simplicial complexes in combinatorial geometry. See my CV for more details.

Interests

I am interested in learning and working with the physics that guide astrophysical processes, developing simulations to model astronomical phenomena, and processing some of the immense amounts of data available thanks to the rapidly-growing set of telescopes and other devices currently working to observe our universe. While I am very interested in my current research focusing on the sun, I am still curious to learn about and investigate other astrophysical phenomena as well.

After taking a General Relativity course at my undergraduate institution, the theory continues to fascinate me and I am interested to explore it further, though I am not currently involved in any GR-related research.

I also maintain my interest in mathematics but at present I am not actively involved in any mathematical research projects.