Michael Proctor's Homepage

Research interests

My research is principally concerned with magnetic fields in the Sun, planets and stars. My early work was on nonlinear models of the earth's dynamo incorporating dynamical back reaction due to the growing field. More recently I have worked on the interaction of convection with magnetic fields, with the aim of understanding the structure of sunspots and solar surface active regions. In the last few years I have studied the fundamentals of dynamo theory, offering a critique of earlier approximate simplifying assumptions. I am also interested in bifurcations and pattern formation in dynamical systems with symmetry.

Talks

Summer School lectures on the solar cycle

Newton Institute lecture on dynamo theory

Publications

Full publication list - links under construction

Teaching

Part III Convection (Lent Term, T-Th 9, MR13):

Course Description 2012 Exam Paper

Sheet 1 Sheet 2 Sheet 3 Sheet 4

Gladstone Memorial Trust

Vacation travel awards for Oxford and Cambridge undergraduates.

Details of how to apply can be found here.