Dr. Steven Cranmer: Interwoven Paths and Tangled Fields

Dr. Steven Cranmer, U of Colorado
Title: Interwoven Paths and Tangled Fields: Understanding the Sun from Multiple Points of View

Abstract: The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures greater than a million degrees, and solar plasma expands into the heliosphere at supersonic speeds. This complex and unpredictable system varies over many orders of magnitude in space and time, so it's not surprising that we still do not have a complete theoretical understanding of it. However, since 1982, the year Aad van Ballegooijen defended his PhD in Utrecht, solar physics has made tremendous strides in observations, theory, and computer simulation. This presentation will review how all three of those methods have helped us answer some big questions about the Sun over the past four decades. Of course, I will enjoy sharing specific examples of how Aad's work was key to answering these questions. I hope to also say something about how we can draw lessons about doing great science from Aad's multidisciplinary approaches. Thus, we will view some new results from DKIST, Parker Solar Probe, and Solar Orbiter through some slightly tinted lenses and see how they're starting to fill in the remaining gaps in our understanding. Lastly, I don't want to let this day go by without mentioning some of Aad's not-so-well-known (and/or unpublished) accomplishments, such as a concept for calcite-crystal-based spectroscopy, a theory of extragalactic jets, and a space-weather forecasting tool that still has the chance to improve upon the ones in use today.