Michael Calkins

Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. in DUAN F727 • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form • 

Research Interests:

My research interests can be broadly classified as geophysical and astrophysical fluid dynamics (GAFD).  Some of the problems in which I’m interested are the generation of planetary magnetic fields via the inductive action of turbulent motions, and the physics of fluid motion in planetary atmospheres.  Research in GAFD requires an interdisciplinary approach that draws on many areas of classical physics such as mechanics, thermodynamics and electrodynamics, in addition to relying on several areas of applied mathematics.  

Selected Publications:

1. Calkins, M.A., Hale, K., Julien, K., Nieves, D., Driggs, D. and P. Marti. The asymptotic equivalence of fixed heat flux and fixed temperature thermal boundary conditions for rapidly rotating convection. J. Fluid Mech., 784, R2 (2015).
2. Calkins, M.A. , Julien, K., Tobias, S.M., and J.M. Aurnou.  A multiscale dynamo model driven by quasi-geostrophic convection.  J. Fluid Mech., 780, 143-146 (2015).
3. Aurnou, J.M., Calkins, M.A., Cheng, J.S., Julien, K., King, E.M., Nieves, D., Soderlund, K.M., and S. Stellmach.  Rotating convective turbulence in Earth and planetary interiors.  Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 246, 52-71 (2015).
4. Calkins, M.A., Julien, K. and P. Marti.  The breakdown of the anelastic approximation in rotating compressible convection: implications for astrophysical systems.  Proc. R. Soc. A., 471, 20140689 (2015).
5. Calkins, M.A., Julien, K. and P. Marti.  Onset of rotating and non-rotating convection in compressible and anelastic ideal gases.  Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., 109, 422-449 (2014).  
6. Calkins, M.A., Julien, K. and P. Marti.  Three-dimensional quasi-geostrophic convection in the rotating cylindrical annulus with steeply sloping endwalls.  J. Fluid Mech., 732, 214-244 (2013).
7. Calkins, M.A., Noir, J., Eldredge, J.D., and J.M. Aurnou.  The effects of boundary topography on convection in Earth's core.  Geophys. J. Int., 189, 799-814 (2012).
8. Calkins, M.A., Aurnou, J.M., Eldredge, J.D., and K. Julien.  The influence of fluid properties on the morphology of core turbulence and the geomagnetic field.  Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 359, 55-60 (2012). 
9. Noir, J., Calkins, M.A., Lasbleis, M., Cantwell, J., and J.M. Aurnou.  Experimental study of libration-driven zonal flows in a straight cylinder.  Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 182 (2010).
10. Calkins, M.A., Noir, J., Eldredge, J.D., and J.M. Aurnou.  Axisymmetric numerical simulations of libration-drive fluid dynamics in a spherical shell geometry.  Phys. Fluids., 22, 086602 (2010).