Professor Klas Modin receives funding from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation

New approach towards solving the storm puzzle

Professor Klas Modin will receive funding from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation to recruit an international researcher for a postdoctoral position at the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Chalmers University of Technology.

In 1665, when astronomer Giovanni Cassini from Bologna pointed his telescope at Jupiter, he was amazed to find a red spot just below the planet’s equator. We now know that the red spot is the manifestation of a gigantic storm in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Similar storms, albeit smaller and less long-lived, occur also in Earth's atmosphere. How and why do the storms arise? The goal of this project is to gain a more in-depth understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying patterns in large-scale atmospheric and oceanic flow. Such patterns are ubiquitous in nature; they ultimately influence life on Earth.
 
The most fundamental mathematical model for two-dimensional turbulent flows was formulated by Leonhard Euler in Basel in 1757. Although Euler's equations have been studied by both mathematicians and physicists for over two centuries, they are notoriously difficult to solve. Experiments and computer simulations have been used to recreate the origin of the storms, but there are few rigorous mathematical results that describe how they form and why they are so stable. 
 
Our approach for analysing the long-term behaviour of two-dimensional flows combines numerical methods with mathematical techniques from quantum theory. Via such theories, the equations for atmospheric flows are understood as matrix equations. Using high-performance cluster computers, approximate solutions can be calculated while preserving the intricate geometric properties, important for capturing the correct long-term behaviour. This provides a new outlook to the early question of why Jupiter’s red spot is so long-lasting.

In addition to Klas Modin, Dr. Eusebio Gardella, University of Gothenburg, and Dr. Christian Johansson, University of Gothenburg, are also receiving funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation to recruit a researcher from abroad for a postdoctoral position. Dr. Jiacheng Xia receives a postdoctoral position at a university abroad and support for two years after returning to Sweden.