Prof Eric Priest
Emeritus Professor
- erp@st-andrews.ac.uk
- Office
- 322 MI
- Location
- Mathematical Institute
Research areas
As former Head of the Solar Theory Research Group in the Division of Applied Mathematics my theoretical research is on many aspects of magnetic field interactions with a fluid or plasma, especially the solar atmosphere but also including astrophysics, the solar wind and the Earth's Magnetosphere.
In particular, I am interested in magnetic instabilities, magnetic waves, magnetic equilibria and the conversion of magnetic energy to heat by magnetic reconnection. Much of this basic theory may have applications in the theory of the behaviour of electrically conducting liquids and of astrophysical plasmas.
Recently, I have been working on the nature of magnetic helicity, heating the solar atmosphere by flux cancellation and the physical effects of ambipolar diffusion
For further information, see the Solar and Magnetospheric MHD Theory Group
and Eric Priest's home page https://eric-priest.github.io
and his home email eric.r.priest@gmail.com
Selected publications
-
Open access
2.5D magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the formation and evolution of plasmoids in coronal current sheets
Mondal, S., Srivastava, A. K., Pontin, D. I., Yuan, D. & Priest, E. R., 7 Mar 2024, In: Astrophysical Journal. 963, 2, 15 p., 139.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Coronal heating and solar wind generation by flux cancellation reconnection
Pontin, D. I., Priest, E. R., Chitta, L. P. & Titov, V. S., 1 Jan 2024, In: Astrophysical Journal. 960, 1, 19 p., 51.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Author Correction: Ultra-high-resolution observations of persistent null-point reconnection in the solar corona (Nature Communications, (2023), 14, 1, (2107), 10.1038/s41467-023-37888-w)
Cheng, X., Priest, E. R., Li, H. T., Chen, J., Aulanier, G., Chitta, L. P., Wang, Y. L., Peter, H., Zhu, X. S., Xing, C., Ding, M. D., Solanki, S. K., Berghmans, D., Teriaca, L., Aznar Cuadrado, R., Zhukov, A. N., Guo, Y., Long, D., Harra, L., Smith, P. J., & 4 others , Dec 2023, In: Nature Communications. 14, 1, 2372.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
-
Brown, John Campbell (1947–2019), astronomer
Priest, E., 1 Apr 2023, British Academy (Oxford University Press).Research output: Other contribution
-
Open access
Fleeting small-scale surface magnetic fields build the quiet-Sun corona
Chitta, L. P., Solanki, S. K., del Toro Iniesta, J. C., Woch, J., Calchetti, D., Gandorfer, A., Hirzberger, J., Kahil, F., Valori, G., Orozco Suárez, D., Strecker, H., Appourchaux, T., Volkmer, R., Peter, H., Mandal, S., Aznar Cuadrado, R., Teriaca, L., Schühle, U., Berghmans, D., Verbeeck, C., & 2 others , 1 Oct 2023, In: apjl. 956, 1, 10 p., L1.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Human uniqueness: debates in science and theology
Priest, E., 1 Jun 2023, In: Zygon. 58, 2, p. 384-404 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Introduction to symposium on “just how special are humans?”
Priest, E., Henrich, J., Deane-Drummond, C. & Meyers, M. A., 2023, In: Zygon®. 58, 2, p. 378-383 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Magnetic reconnection on the Sun: ESPD Senior Prize Lecture
Priest, E., 15 Feb 2023, In: Advances in Space Research. 71, 4, p. 1856-1865 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Chromospheric and coronal heating and jet acceleration due to reconnection driven by flux cancellation: I. At a three-dimensional current sheet
Priest, E. R. & Syntelis, P., Mar 2021, In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. 647, 9 p., A31.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Ultra-high-resolution observations of persistent null-point reconnection in the solar corona
Cheng, X., Priest, E. R., Li, H. T., Chen, J., Aulanier, G., Chitta, L. P., Wang, Y. L., Peter, H., Zhu, X. S., Xing, C., Ding, M. D., Solanki, S. K., Berghmans, D., Teriaca, L., Aznar Cuadrado, R., Zhukov, A. N., Guo, Y., Long, D., Harra, L., Smith, P. J., & 4 others , 13 Apr 2023, In: Nature Communications. 14, 10 p., 2107.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review