William H. Matthaeus

Summary

William Henry Matthaeus (born 1951) is an American astrophysicist and plasma physicist. He is known for his research on turbulence in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) (e.g. numerical simulations and kinetic theory)[1][2][3][4] and astrophysical plasmas (e.g. solar wind and its fluctuations),[5][6][7][8][9][10] for which he was awarded the 2019 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics.[11]

William Henry Matthaeus
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (B.A.)
Old Dominion University (M.A.)
College of William and Mary (M.S., Ph.D.)
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPlasma physics
ThesisNonlinear Evolution of the Magnetohydrodynamic Sheet Pinch (1979)
Doctoral advisorDavid Campbell Montgomery
Websiteweb.physics.udel.edu/about/directory/faculty/william-matthaeus

Early life and career edit

Matthaeus graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in physics and philosophy in 1973 on a scholarship from the Mayor of Philadelphia. In 1975, he received an M.A. in physics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and then received an M.S. in physics and Ph.D in physics at the College of William and Mary in 1977 and 1979 respectively.[11] His thesis was on "Nonlinear Evolution of the Magnetohydrodynamic Sheet Pinch" and he was supervised by David Campbell Montgomery.[12] Since 1983, he has been affiliated with the Bartol Research Institute and is currently Unidel Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware.[13]

Matthaeus is involved in the Swarthmore Spheromak experiment and since 2004 has been significantly involved in the Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018,[14] to study the corona of the sun. He has been director of NASA's Delaware Space Grant since 2016.[15]

In the 1990s, Matthaeus applied the Lattice Boltzmann method to magnetohydrodynamics[16] and in 1992, published a well-cited paper showing that it was possible to recover the Navier-Stokes equation by using the Lattice Boltzmann method.[17]

Honors and awards edit

In 1985, Matthaeus received the James B. MacElwane Award from the American Geophysical Union[18] and became its fellow. He was then elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1998.[19]

In 2019, he received the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics for "pioneering research into the nature of turbulence in space and astrophysical plasmas, which has led to major advances in understanding particle transport, dissipation of turbulent energy, and magnetic reconnection".[11]

References edit

  1. ^ Shebalin, John V.; Matthaeus, William H.; Montgomery, David (1983). "Anisotropy in MHD turbulence due to a mean magnetic field". Journal of Plasma Physics. 29 (3): 525–547. Bibcode:1983JPlPh..29..525S. doi:10.1017/s0022377800000933. hdl:2060/19830004728. ISSN 0022-3778. S2CID 122509800.
  2. ^ Matthaeus, W. H.; Lamkin, S. L. (1986). "Turbulent magnetic reconnection". Physics of Fluids. 29 (8): 2513. Bibcode:1986PhFl...29.2513M. doi:10.1063/1.866004. ISSN 0031-9171.
  3. ^ Bieber, John W.; Matthaeus, William H.; Smith, Charles W.; Wanner, Wolfgang; Kallenrode, May-Britt; Wibberenz, Gerd (1994). "Proton and electron mean free paths: The Palmer consensus revisited". The Astrophysical Journal. 420: 294. Bibcode:1994ApJ...420..294B. doi:10.1086/173559. ISSN 0004-637X.
  4. ^ Servidio, S.; Matthaeus, W. H.; Dmitruk, P. (2008). "Depression of Nonlinearity in Decaying Isotropic MHD Turbulence". Physical Review Letters. 100 (9): 095005. Bibcode:2008PhRvL.100i5005S. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.100.095005. hdl:11336/61982. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 18352719.
  5. ^ Matthaeus, William H.; Goldstein, Melvyn L. (1982). "Measurement of the rugged invariants of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind". Journal of Geophysical Research. 87 (A8): 6011. Bibcode:1982JGR....87.6011M. doi:10.1029/ja087ia08p06011. hdl:11603/30515. ISSN 0148-0227.
  6. ^ Goldstein, M. L.; Roberts, D. A.; Matthaeus, W. H. (1995). "Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence in the Solar Wind". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 33 (1): 283–325. Bibcode:1995ARA&A..33..283G. doi:10.1146/annurev.aa.33.090195.001435. hdl:2060/19840005005. ISSN 0066-4146.
  7. ^ Bieber, John W.; Wanner, Wolfgang; Matthaeus, William H. (1996). "Dominant two-dimensional solar wind turbulence with implications for cosmic ray transport". Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 101 (A2): 2511–2522. Bibcode:1996JGR...101.2511B. doi:10.1029/95ja02588. ISSN 0148-0227.
  8. ^ Leamon, Robert J.; Smith, Charles W.; Ness, Norman F.; Matthaeus, William H.; Wong, Hung K. (1998). "Observational constraints on the dynamics of the interplanetary magnetic field dissipation range". Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 103 (A3): 4775–4787. Bibcode:1998JGR...103.4775L. doi:10.1029/97ja03394. ISSN 0148-0227.
  9. ^ Zhou, Ye; Matthaeus, W.; Dmitruk, P. (2004). "Colloquium: Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence and time scales in astrophysical and space plasmas". Reviews of Modern Physics. 76 (4): 1015–1035. Bibcode:2004RvMP...76.1015Z. doi:10.1103/revmodphys.76.1015. ISSN 0034-6861.
  10. ^ Matthaeus, W. H.; Zank, G. P.; Smith, C. W.; Oughton, S. (1999). "Turbulence, Spatial Transport, and Heating of the Solar Wind". Physical Review Letters. 82 (17): 3444–3447. Bibcode:1999PhRvL..82.3444M. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.82.3444. hdl:10289/8611. ISSN 0031-9007.
  11. ^ a b c "2019 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics Recipient". American Physical Society. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  12. ^ "William Matthaeus - The Mathematics Genealogy Project". genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  13. ^ "William Matthaeus | University of Delaware Dept. of Physics & Astronomy". web.physics.udel.edu. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  14. ^ "Dr. William Matthaeus, Unidel professor of physics and astronomy, University of Delaware | Newark Life". www.newarklifemagazine.com. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  15. ^ "Delaware Space Grant Consortium - Message From The Director". www.delspace.org. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  16. ^ Chen, Shiyi; Chen, Hudong; Martnez, Daniel; Matthaeus, William (1991). "Lattice Boltzmann model for simulation of magnetohydrodynamics". Physical Review Letters. 67 (27): 3776–3779. Bibcode:1991PhRvL..67.3776C. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.67.3776. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 10044823.
  17. ^ Chen, Hudong; Chen, Shiyi; Matthaeus, William H. (1992). "Recovery of the Navier-Stokes equations using a lattice-gas Boltzmann method". Physical Review A. 45 (8): R5339–R5342. Bibcode:1992PhRvA..45.5339C. doi:10.1103/physreva.45.r5339. ISSN 1050-2947. PMID 9907724.
  18. ^ "William H. Matthaeus". Honors Program. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  19. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. Retrieved February 29, 2020.