Juri Toomre's Home Page

Juri Toomre

Address: Prof. Juri Toomre, JILA, and Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309-0440, USA

E-mail: jtoomre@jila.colorado.edu or jtoomre@solarz.colorado.edu

Phone: (303) 492-7854 (office); (303) 443-3310 (home)

Fax: (303) 492-5235 (JILA fax)

Biographical Sketch:

Toomre received B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautics and astronautics in 1963, and then went to England as a Marshall Scholar to receive a Ph.D. from Trinity College, University of Cambridge in applied mathematics in 1967. Since 1975 Toomre has been a professor of astrophysics in APS (Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences) and a fellow of JILA (formerly the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics), University of Colorado, Boulder.

Research and Teaching Emphasis:

Toomre's research and teaching centers on astrophysical fluid dynamics (AFD), with particular emphasis on nonlinear theories for compressible convection in stars, and in studying nonlinear dynamical systems exhibiting multiple bifurcations and chaos. He is particularly interested in topics where theoretical work related to fluid dynamics can be challenged and tested by observation and experiment. He is active in turbulence theory and simulation, with extensive experience in the use of vector supercomputers, massively parallel machines, high-speed networks, archival storage systems, and major visualization systems. Toomre's teaching spans graduate courses in basic fluid dynamics, waves and instabilities, nonlinear dynamical systems, geophysical and astrophysical fluid turbulence, magnetohydrodynamics, mathematical methods, computational mathematics and simulations, and a variety of courses in general astronomy. Toomre in Spring 2008 is teaching the undergraduate course ASTR 1040-010 Accelerated Intro Astronomy 2: Stars & Galaxies, and in Fall 2007 he taught the graduate course ASTR 5400 Introduction to Fluid Dynamics.

Toomre has been co-PI on two `grand challenge' (GC) projects to use high-performance computing and communication to study geophysical and astrophysical turbulence influenced by rotation and stratification (GAFD Turbulence: NSF-HPCC GC Team) and to study stellar convection and dynamo processes (Turbulent Convection and Dynamos in Stars: NASA-HPCC ESS GC Team). Toomre is co-PI with Brummell (with other Co-Is) on the NASA Heliophysics Theory Program (SECTP) effort to study turbulent solar convection coupled to rotation and magnetic fields (Elements of the Solar Dynamo: MHD Simulations of Convection, Rotation, Shear and Magnetism) .

Toomre has sustained interests in helioseismology, using observations of the frequency-splitting of five-minute oscillations of the sun to search for subphotospheric flows, large-scale structures and differential rotation in the convection zone; inverse theory has been developed to interpret the data. The Global Oscillations Network Project (GONG) is using six ground-based Doppler imaging instruments to obtain nearly uninterrupted observations of solar oscillations. These are complemented by observations from space. Toomre is a Co-I on the helioseismology SOI-MDI high-resolution Doppler imaging experiment onboard the SOHO spacecraft, now positioned at the L1 Lagrangian point (SOI-MDI Project on SOHO) .

Toomre was co-PI with Hart on the GFFC electroconvection experiment flown successfully on the shuttle missions Spacelab 3 and Co-I on USML-2, which studied the interaction of convection with rotation in a spherical shell of fluid that is experiencing a simulated radial gravity field. Other theoretical work includes nonlinear instabilities of shear flows; double-diffusive convection exhibiting traveling waves and chaos; internal gravity waves both in the solar atmosphere and in its deep core; penetrative convection in the nuclear-burning cores of rotating A stars and in the outer convective envelope of the sun; and early work on the modelling of interacting galaxies that yield a rich assembly of bridges and tails.

Professional Activities:

Toomre was vice-chair of the Solar Observatory Council (SOC) of AURA with oversight for the National Solar Observatory, and has been member and chair of the Space Telescope Institute Council (STIC) which has oversight for STScI. Toomre is chair of the scientific advisory committee to GONG (Global Oscillation Network Group), the major ground-based observational project in helioseismology. Toomre is a Co-I on the SOI-MDI helioseismology experiment on SOHO, and a Co-I on the Helioseismic Magnetic Imager (HMI) experiment scheduled for launch with the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in 2008. Toomre has served on the Solar and Heliospheric Physics panel for the recent NAS decadal study of Solar and Space Physics. He is currently chairing the AURA Decadal Survey Steering committee to provide commentary on investments and thrusts to be made in UVOIR astronomy.

Recent Publications:

Means Toward A Happier Life: