Research

For any queries, comments or interest in collaboration do not hesitate to email grp39@cantab.ac.uk.

My primary research interests, in no particular order, are:

• Rayleigh-Bénard and Saffman-Taylor instabilities in geophysical flows

• applications of the finite element method to fluid dynamics

• open-source scientific software development

In plain English

My PhD research is motivated by a fascination with instabilities and pattern formation in fluid dynamics. An elementary example of such an instability is when a heavier fluid is placed above a lighter fluid, resulting in the fluids overturning and mixing together. In the language of fluid dynamics, this is the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Many other classic instabilities involve a contrast in temperature, concentration of dissolved solute, or viscosity (how ‘thick and sticky’ or resistant to flow a fluid is) as opposed to a contrast in density. A system that develops instabilities is said be unstable, as opposed to stable, and can exhibit some very interesting and chaotic behaviour. Characterising this chaotic behaviour and finding the criteria separating stable from unstable systems is possible with the mathematics of stability theory and computational methods to solve equations that are not amenable to pen-and-paper solutions. Visualization supported by computational methods can also reveal the intricate and beautiful patterns developing in the system.

One application in which various instabilities can occur is the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide, a process whereby liquefied carbon dioxide is injected underground into deep rock formations as a means of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Though the liquid carbon dioxide is less dense than the water already present in the rock formation, it can also dissolve into the water which then becomes more dense and unstable. Also at play between the carbon dioxide, water and rock are chemical reactions and microscopic phenomena occurring in the pore spaces between the grains of rock, further adding to the complexity of the system.

PhD Thesis

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Publications

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