Dr. Brown's research focuses on astrophysical fluid dynamics and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) of stellar interiors and Jovian planetary atmospheres. Brown explores stellar dynamo physics and planetary atmosphere physics through numerical simulations on massively-parallel supercomputers. This research is conducted using the open-source Dedalus pseudospectral framework, along with the MESA stellar structure code. Brown's research focuses especially on global-scale dynamo action and the properties of convection, studying how large-scale fields can be built in the convection zone of a star. Further research is exploring how such dynamos couple to the stably-stratified radiative interior through tachoclines of shear and penetrative convection, and has lead to improved treatments of gravity waves within anelastic and other low-mach number models. Results from these dynamo models are being connected with astrophysical observations and laboratory based dynamo experiments.
keywords
magnetohydrodynamics, dynamo physics, compressible convection, atmospheric physics
