Email: mahdinia@berkeley.edu, mani.mahdinia@gmail.com
Hometown: Tehran, Iran
Research: My focus is on computational fluid dynamics. I have used spectral methods, to develop algorithms for solving basic fluid problems.
I came to Berkeley to pursue a degree as a PhD student in mechanical engineering in 2011, following my previous studies. I have worked both as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) and also a Graduate Student Researcher (GSR). As a graduate student, my work has been with the 3D coherent vortices. These vortices are prominent features of geophysical and astrophysical flows, the dynamics of which are controlled by the shear of the environment if close to the major currents (e.g., the gulf stream), the background rotation, and background stratification. The “short-term” behavior of these vortices shows that for a range of parameters vortices (cyclones) can be unstable with very large growth rates. Lately my focus has specifically been on stability, longevity and robustness of the ocean vortices. The “long-term” stability simulations of these vortices indicate that for vortices with fastest growth rates the perturbations saturate very quickly such that the final equilibrium is almost indistinguishable from the initial equilibrium, with small changes in time.
I did my under-graduate studies in Sharif University of Technology (from where I also got my MSc), also working on computational fluid dynamics. My undergraduate thesis and MSc thesis were on simulation of turbulent dense flows. If need be, please let me know and I can send you my undergraduate or graduate theses.
My Website is here.
Research at CFD Lab with Prof. Marcus:
Full-Length Articles
(2017) Stability of three-dimensional Gaussian vortices in an unbounded, rotating, vertically stratified, Boussinesq flow: Linear analysis, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 824, p. 97-134, pdf, doi:10.1017/jfm.2017.303
Conference Papers/Abstracts
(2023) Nonlinear Stability and Evolution of 3D Vortices in Rotating Stratified Flows, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. ZC38-001, url
(2014) Linear Stability and Nonlinear Evolution of 3D Vortices in Rotating Stratified Flows, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. M17-002, pdf
(2013) Stability of Baroclinic Vortices in Rotating Stratified Flows, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. H36-002, pdf