Welcome!
I am currently an associate research physicist at the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley. I have a variety of research interests in the field of astrophysics, including the formation and evolution of magnetic fields in the convective envelope of stars like our Sun; the physics of magnetically driven eruptions in the solar corona (the principal drivers of space weather here at earth); the transport of radiation in solar and stellar chromospheres during strong flares; and the dynamic, magnetic, and energetic connection between the solar interior and atmosphere. Each section of this page contains brief (hopefully understandable!) descriptions of each project, along with some nice visualizations of both observed and simulated datasets. If you are interested in the details of a particular project, an abbreviated version of my Curriculum Vitae contains a list of some of my recent peer-reviewed journal articles.
A numerical model of the dynamic, magnetic, and energetic connection between a small portion of the solar convection zone and corona . LEFT: Magnetic field lines initiated from a set of points located in the model chromosphere (images from Abbett 2007). The grayscale intensity on the horizontal slice representing the photosphere denotes the magnitude of vertical velocity along this layer. RIGHT: Magnetic field lines initiated from equidistant points along a horizontal line positioned near the upper boundary of the model corona. This particular snapshot shows the complex magnetic connectivity of the model atmosphere as Quiet Sun magnetic fields interact with a weak, initially vertical coronal field. The image illustrates how magnetic flux entrained in overturning flows and strong convective downdrafts can be pushed below the surface. The horizontal slice denotes the approximate position of the photosphere, and grayscale contours of vertically directed flows (dark shades indicate downflows, while light shades indicate upflows) are displayed along the slice. INSET IMAGES: A timeseries (over ~ 5 minutes) of the magnetic flux penetrating a small portion of the model photosphere. This sub-domain is centered on the location featured in the background image where magnetic flux is being advected below the surface.
Contact Information
Address: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley CA 94720-7450. Phone: (510) 642-6880. Fax: (510) 643-8302. e-mail: abbett at ssl.berkeley.edu.