Campus Directory

Pronouns he, him, his, his, himself

Division Baskin School of Engineering

Department/College/Unit Applied Mathematics

Title Professor

Affiliation Faculty

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Areas of Expertise Mathematics
Mathematical Modeling
Computational Modeling
Fluid Dynamics
Geophysics
Astrophysics
Supercomputing

Web Site

Primary Office Location Jack Baskin Engineering Building
359A

Mail Stop SOE2

Biography, Education and Training

Brummell did his undergraduate studies at Imperial College at the University of London (UK) in Mathematics and received his B.Sc. there with first class honours. He was accepted to do a Ph.D. in the Department of Applied Mathematics at the same university, under the supervision of Dr.~D.R.~Moore. In 1988, Brummell received his Ph.D. for work on mathematical and numerical models of convection. In November 1988, Brummell moved to JILA and the Astrophysical and Planetary Science Department of the University of Colorado, where he worked on research problems in astrophysical and geophysical fluid dynamics, and taught mathematical and numerical methods, fluid dynamics and astrophysics. In late 2006, Brummell accepted a job in the formative Applied Mathematics Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as an Associate Professor. Brummell was promoted to Full Professor in July 2009.

Summary of Expertise

Fluid dynamics, magnetohydrodynamics, numerical simulations of geophysical and astrophysical dynamics, especially solar interior physics, supercomputing.

Research Interests

My interests lie in astrophysical and geophysical fluid dynamics. I concentrate on the highly nonlinear, turbulent flow regimes, using high resolution numerical simulations for such studies. In particular, my research is currently focussed on dynamos, where turbulence in an electrically-conducting fluid creates and maintains strong magnetic field, with a particular view to understanding the origin of magnetic activity of our Sun. The demands of such problems consume a great deal of cutting-edge supercomputing power and therefore the algorithms of efficient parallel computing are a complementary research topic. I am also interested in more basic fluid dynamic phenomena, such as double-diffusive instabilities and aerodynamics.

Teaching Interests

Basic mathematical methods; Applied mathematics; Fluid dynamics; Numerical algorithms for modern supercomputing

Advisees, Grad Students & Researchers , (jnoonewa)

Courses AM 107/217 -- PHYS 107
AM 275 -- EART 275
AM 250