Deeper wider faster survey at University of Melbourne, 2016
Role: PhD student, Planets group
Thesis topic: "Dynamical processing and jet entrainment of dust around young stellar objects"
Project description
The presence of refractory crystalline minerals such as forsterite (Mg2SiO4) in cometary dust and in the relatively un-processed interiors of some kinds of meteorites poses a challenge to the conventional theory of the development of the Solar System. These objects form in relatively cool regions of the accretion disc surrounding young stars, yet crystalline forsterite and its analogues requires processing at high temperature, in the inner part of the accretion disk to form.
My PhD studies will investigate whether the combination of ‘star-burst’ eruptions of young stars and dust entraining jet flows (possibly induced by wound-up magnetic fields) is as suitable mechanism for explaining the chemical properties observed in the meteorite population, and satellite sample return missions as well as the infrared observations of young stellar objects.
Recent blog posts
Research Topics
Recently I've been looking at the dynamics of accretion discs. Below is a visualisation of the time evolution of the surface mass density (left frame) and specific angular momentum (right frame) of a delta-function annulus of matter at distance R from its central star:
Time evolution of the surface mass density (left) and specific angular momentum (right) of a delta-function annulus about a star (the ordinate is the scaled-time, the abscissa is the scaled radius)
About me
I have a BSc with Honours in Theoretical Physics and a Masters degree in Engineering Science (thesis title: “On the analysis of axis-symmetric eddy currents” ) both from Monash University and a Masters degree in Business and Information Technology from the University of Melbourne. I worked in the Australian government’s research organization CSIRO for more than twenty years in diverse roles including: fluid dynamics researcher, IT manager, research administrator and executive officer.
Contact details
E-mail address: gbryan@swin.edu.au