Andrew Soward

FRS
Born (1943-10-20) 20 October 1943[1]
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (BA, PhD)[2][3]
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Doctoral advisor

Andrew Michael Soward FRS (born 20 October 1943) is a British fluid dynamicist. He is an emeritus professor at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Exeter.[2]

Education

Soward was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge. He earned his PhD in 1969, under the supervision of Keith Moffatt.[1][3]

Research

Soward is known for his work on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and especially dynamo theory, and also for his contributions to linear and nonlinear stability theory. He used asymptotic analysis to solve a number of outstanding problems in applied mathematics. By a new pseudo-Lagrangian technique for studying lightly damped fluid systems, he elucidated previously inexplicable features of Braginskii's geodynamo. Soward has provided explicit examples of steady fast dynamo action, thus disproving a conjecture that such dynamos did not exist.[4]

He identified new rotating modes of nonlinear convection in rotating systems, and in collaboration with Steven Childress, established an MHD dynamo model in a rapidly rotating Bénard layer; he also gave the first demonstration that situations exist where oscillatory MHD dynamos generate magnetic fields more readily than steady flows can. He collaborated with Eric Priest to provide the first mathematically consistent account of the Petschek mechanism of magnetic field line reconnection. Soward also gave the first complete solution of the Stefan (freezing) problem in cylindrical geometry; with C.A. Jones, he provided the first completely correct solution of the spherical Taylor problem.[4][5]

Awards and honours

Soward was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1991.[4][5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Soward, Andrew". Who's Who. Vol. 2016 (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 "Prof Andrew Soward – CEMPS – Mathematics, University of Exeter". University of Exeter. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  3. 1 2 Andrew Soward at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. 1 2 3 "Andrew Soward". London: Royal Society. One or more of the preceding sentences may incorporate text from the royalsociety.org website where "all text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." "Terms, conditions and policies | Royal Society". Archived from the original on 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2017-07-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), "Intellectual property rights"
  5. 1 2 "EC/1991/31: Soward, Andrew Michael". The Royal Society. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
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