Email: phz @ berkeley.edu
Hometown: Tehran, Iran
Research: I came to Berkeley in 2008 and graduated in 2013 with degrees in mathematics (MA) and mechanical engineering (PhD). As a graduate student in the CFD lab, I worked on 3D vortices in geophysical and astrophysical flows. Such vortices are abundant in nature (ocean, atmosphere, accretion disks, etc.) and their dynamics is controlled by the rotation, density stratification, and shear of their environments. Understanding the physics of these vortices is crucial in answering intriguing questions such as the color, color-change, and longevity of Jovian vortices (e.g. Great Red Spot); impact of oceanic eddies on general circulation and climate dynamics (e.g. Agulhas rings); and star and planet formation in the protoplanetary disks. In my PhD I used theoretical techniques and high-resolution numerical simulations to study various aspects of the dynamics of 3D vortices.
I became interested in fluid dynamics and computation during my undergraduate studies at the University of Tehran (2001-2005). In 2005 I moved to Canada and in 2007 I received a master’s degree from the University of Waterloo, where I worked on computational radiation heat transfer. In 2013, I joined Harvard University as a Ziff Environmental Fellow in the Center for the Environment and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. My research in Harvard focuses on climate change and extreme weather events.
My PhD dissertation: Baroclinic Vortices in Rotating Stratified Shearing Flows: Cyclones, Anticyclones, and Zombie Vortices (PDF)
My MA thesis: Optimal Transport from Wall to Wall (PDF)
My website can be found 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
(2015) Zombie Vortex Instability. I. A Purely Hydrodynamic Instability to Resurrect the Dead Zones of Protoplanetary Disks, The Astrophysical Journal 808(1), p. 87, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/808/1/87
(2013) Three-dimensional vortices generated by self-replication in stably stratified rotating shear flows, Physical Review Letters 111(8), p. 84501, APS, pdf, doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.084501
(2013) Etude expérimentale et numérique des cyclones produits par aspiration dans des écoulements stratifiés tournants, CFM 2013-21ème Congrès Français de Mécanique, url
(2012) The universal aspect ratio of vortices in rotating stratified flows: theory and simulation, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 706, p. 46-57, doi:10.1017/jfm.2012.180
Conference Papers/Abstracts
(2019) The Shedding of Jupiter's Red Flakes Does Not Mean It Is Dying, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. L13–001, pdf
(2019) On the Shedding of Jupiter's Red Flakes, AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 2019, p. P13B–3505, url
(2014) The Zombie Instability: Using Numerical Simulation to Design a Laboratory Experiment, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. A22-009, pdf
(2014) Zombie Vortices: Angular Momentum Transport and Planetesimal Formation, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. E17-005, pdf
(2014) On the surprising longevity of Jupiter's centuries-old Great Red Spot, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. M17-001, pdf
(2014) Zombie Vortices: The Dead Zones of Protoplanetary Disks are Not Dead, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. E17-004, pdf
(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) 3D Zombie Vortices in Rotating Stratified Shear, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. M1-008, pdf
(2013) Noise and Turbulence Generate 3D Zombie Vortices in Stably Stratified Rotating Shear Flows, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. M1-009, pdf
(2013) On the Unexpected Longevity of the Great Red Spot, Oceanic Eddies, and Other Baroclinic Vortices, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. L32-002, pdf
(2013) The role of interactions between waves and baroclinic critical layers in zombie vortex self-replication, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. L32-003, pdf
(2013) Stability of Baroclinic Vortices in Rotating Stratified Flows, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. H36-002, pdf
(2013) On the Effects of Viscosity and Nonlinearity on Baroclinic Critical Layers, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. L32-004, pdf
(2013) The Dead Zones of Protoplanetary Disks are Not Dead, EPJ Web of Conferences 46, p. 3006, pdf
(2012) The Easily Excitable Baroclinic Critical Layers in Rotating, Horizontally Shearing, Vertically Stratified Flows and Their Roll-up into Vortices, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. R7-008, pdf
(2012) 3D baroclinic vortices in rotating stratified shear: from an orange great red spot to planet formation, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. D13-006, pdf
(2012) Self-Similar, Self-Replicating, Critical Layers and Vortices in Rotating, Horizontally Shearing, Vertically-Stratified Flows, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. R7-009, pdf
(2012) An experimental and numerical study of cyclones produced by suction in rotating stratified flows, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts, p. D13–010, pdf
(2011) 3D vortices in stratified, rotating flows-secondary circulations and changes in aspect radio due to dissipation, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts 64, p. A1-003, pdf
(2011) 3D Structure and Internal Circulation of Pancake Vortices in Rotating Stratified Flows, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts 64, p. M1-008, pdf
(2010) How do 3D Vortices Spin Down, or Do They?, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts 63, p. CN-007, pdf
(2010) Secondary Flows Within 3D Vortices, APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts 63, p. CN-006, pdf