Professor Nigel Weiss

Who I am

Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Astrophysics, University of Cambridge; Fellow of Clare College; FRS.

Research interests

Solar and Stellar Magnetic Fields, Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics, Nonlinear Dynamics

Solar activity and global warming

Following a misleading account of my views in the Toronto National Post in February 2007, a number of right-wing lobbyists have asserted that I claimed that an impending drop in solar activity would lead to global cooling that would cancel out the warming caused by greenhouse gases. On the contrary, I have always maintained that any temperature changes caused by variations in solar activity -- while interesting in themselves -- are not significant compared to the global warming that we are already experiencing, and very small compared to what will happen if we continue to burn fossil fuel at the present rate. On April 11 2007 the National Post published an apology and withdrew its allegations. They have nevertheless appeared again in the recent book `Scared to Death' by Booker and North.

Recent publications

Weiss, N.O. ``Turbulent magnetic fields in the Sun'', Astron. Geophys. 42, 3.10--3.17, 2001.
Weiss, N.O. & Proctor, M.R.E. ``Flux separation in photospheric magnetoconvection'', in Recent Insights into the Physics of the Sun and Heliosphere -- Highlights from SOHO and other Space Missions, ed. P. Brekke, B. Fleck & J.B. Gurman, pp. 219--221, IAU Symp. No. 203, 2001.
Emonet, T., Cattaneo, F. & Weiss, N.O. ``Magnetoconvection'', in Dynamo and Dynamics: a Mathematical Challenge, ed. P. Chossat, G. Dangelmayr & J. Oprea. pp. 173--180, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2001.
Weiss, N.O., Knobloch, E. & Tobias, S.M. ``Modulation and symmetry-breaking in low-order models of the solar dynamo'', in Dynamo and Dynamics: a Mathematical Challenge, ed. P. Chossat, G. Dangelmayr & J. Oprea. pp. 381--390, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2001.
Simon, G.W., Title, A.M. & Weiss, N.O. ``Sustaining the Sun's magnetic network with emerging bipoles'', Astrophys. J. 561, 427--434, 2001.
Cattaneo, F., Lenz, D. & Weiss, N.O. ``On the origin of the solar mesogranulation'', Astrophys. J. 563, L91--L94, 2001.
Galloway, D.J., Uchida, Y. & Weiss, N.O. ``Generation of coronal currents by the solar convection zone'', Pub. Astron. Soc. Australia 18, 329--335, 2001.
Blanchflower, S. & Weiss, N.O. ``Three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic convectons'', Phys. Lett. A 294, 297--303, 2002.
Weiss, N.O. ``Dynamos in planets, stars and galaxies'', Astron. Geophys. 43, 3.9--3.14, 2002,
Weiss, N.O. ``Umbral and penumbral magnetoconvection'', Astron. Nachr. 323, 371--376, 2002,
Thomas, J.H., Tobias, S.M., Weiss, N.O. & Brummell, N.H. ``Magnetic flux pumping and the structure of a sunspot penumbra", Astron. Nachr. 323, 383--386, 2002,
Weiss, N.O., Proctor, M.R.E. & Brownjohn, D.P. ``Magnetic flux separation in photospheric convection'', Mon. Not. Roy. Astr. Soc. 337, 293--304, 2002.
Thomas, J.H., Tobias, S.M., Weiss, N.O. & Brummell, N.H. `` Downward pumping of magnetic flux as the cause of filamentary structures in sunspot penumbrae'', Nature 420, 390--393, 2002.
Weiss, N.O. ``Modelling solar and stellar magnetoconvection'', in Stellar Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics, ed. M.J. Thompson & J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, pp. 329--343, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Cattaneo, F., Emonet, T. & Weiss, N.O. ``On the interaction between convection and magnetic fields'', Astrophys. J. 588, 1183--1198, 2003.
Weiss, N.O., Thomas, J.H., Tobias, S.M. & Brummell, N.H. ``Magnetic pumping and the origin of penumbral structure in sunspots'', Astrophys. J. 600, 1073--1090, 2004.
Kersale, E., Hughes, D.W., Ogilvie, G.I., Tobias, S.M. & Weiss, N.O. ``Global magnetorotational instability with inflow. I. Linear theory and the role of boundary conditions'', Astrophys. J. 602, 892--903, 2004.
Tobias, S.M., Weiss, N.O. & Beer, J. ``Long-term prediction of solar activity'', Astron. Geophys. 45, 2.6, 2004,
Tildesley, M.J. & Weiss, N.O. ``On the origin of filamentary structure in sunspot penumbrae: nonlinear results'', Mon. Not. Roy. Astr. Soc. 350, 657--670, 2004.
Tobias. S.M. & Weiss, N.O. ``The puzzling structure of a sunspot'', Astron. Geophys. 45, 4.28--4.33, 2004.
Thomas. J.H. & Weiss, N.O. ``Fine structure in sunspots'', Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 42, 517--548, 2004.
Weiss, N.O. ``Linear and nonlinear dynamos'', Astron. Nachr. 326, 157--165, 2005.
Hughes, D.W., Rosner, R. & Weiss, N.O. ``Magnetohydrodynamics of stellar interiors'', Astron. Geophys. 46, 4.36--4.37, 2005.
Thomas, J.H., Tobias, S.M., Weiss, N.O. & Brummell, N.H. ``On the fine structure of magnetic fields in sunspot penumbrae'', Astron. Astrophys. 452, 1089--1090, 2006.
Weiss, N.O. ``The puzzling structure of a sunspot'', in Solar MHD Theory and Observations: a High Spatial Resolution Perspective, ed. H. Uitenbroek, J. Leibacher & R.F. Stein, Astron. Soc. Pacific Conf. Series 354, pp. 213--223, 2006.
Weiss, N.O. ``Sunspot structure and dynamics'', Space Sci. Rev. 124, 13--22. 2006.
Tobias, S.M. & Weiss, N.O. ``The solar dynamo and the tachocline'', in The Solar Tachocline, ed. D.W. Hughes, R. Rosner & N.O. Weiss, Cambridge University Press, pp. 319--350, 2007.
Tobias, S.M. & Weiss, N.O. ``Stellar dynamos'', in Mathematical Aspects of Natural Dynamos, ed. E. Dormy & A.M. Soward, Grenoble Sciences/CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 281--311, 2007.
Isobe, H., Proctor, M.R.E. & Weiss, N.O. ``Convection-driven emergence of granular scale magnetic field and its role in coronal heating and solar wind acceleration'', Ap. J. Lett. 679, L57--L60, 2008.
Bushby, P.J., Houghton, S.M., Proctor, M.R.E. & Weiss, N.O. ``Numerical simulations of magnetic flux concentration in the quiet Sun'', Mon. Not. Roy. Astr. Soc. 387, 698--706, 2008.
Brummell, N.H., Tobias, S.M., Thomas, J.H. \& Weiss, N.O. ``Flux pumping and magnetic fields in the outer penumbra of a sunspot'', Astrophys. J. 686, 1454--1465, 2008.
Abreu, J.A., Beer, J., Steinhilber, S., Tobias, S.M. \& Weiss, N.O. ``For how long will the current grand maximum of solar activity persist?'' Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, L20109, 2008.
Thomas, J.H. & Weiss, N.O. Sunspots and Starspots, Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Professor Nigel Weiss

Who I am

Research interests

Solar activity and global warming

Recent publications

Other interests and links