Ricky Egeland : Physicist and Technology Professional

Contact Info

Name: Ricky Egeland
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Introduction

In 2017 I obtained my Ph.D. in physics from Montana State University with my dissertation "Long-term Variability of the Sun in the Context of Solar-Analog Stars." I am currently a Project Scientist working at the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, Colorado. My research is on observational records of the solar cycle and spectropolarimetric observations and inversions.

I received my B.S. in physics in 2003 from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities followed by seven years of software development work for the Compact Muon Solenoid project at CERN. After leaving CERN in 2010 I worked briefly at the Observatório Nacional in Rio de Janeiro before coming to Montana to resume my studies.

Curriculum Vitae

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Publication List

Click here for my publication list

Research Interests

The following topics are interests for my PhD thesis research.

The solar cycle. The roughly 11-year solar cycle modulates many solar phenomenon including the number of sunspots, the solar irradiance, as well as the frequency of flares and CMEs. What is responsible for this cycle, and for the subtle variations of it? What determines the period of the cycle, and did the period vary throughout the life of the Sun? What has its impact been on the history of the Earth and the Solar System?
Sun-like stars. Are there any solar twins out there, with comparable mass, composition, spectral features, and magnetic cycle? In this context, is the Sun's variability normal or abnormal? What are the essential parameters which determine the magnetic activity of Sun-like stars?
Helio/Astro-seismology. Like regular seismology, we use the acoustic waves travelling through the object to learn about the conditions of the interior, which can't otherwise be measured. Astroseismology allows measurement of stellar parameters crucial to the working of the magnetic dynamo.
Magnetic cycle Grand Minnima. During the "Maunder Minima" the 11-year solar cycle inexplicably stopped between 1645 and 1715, as sunspots became exceedingly rare. How frequent are these cessations of activity? What causes their onset, and what causes the cycle to later start up again?
The faint young Sun paradox. Stellar models predict that the ancient young Sun was only 70% as intense as it is today, and would provide insufficient energy for the Earth to have a liquid ocean. However, geological and paleontological evidence show that the Earth did have a liquid ocean and at times was quite warm and humid. What is the explanation for this contradiction?

These topics are also interesting to me, but not closely related to my thesis reseach. Maybe I'll look into it someday?

Large-scale scientific computing. Every sub-field of science is transitioning into a new era where increases in data volume necessitate new approaches to data analysis, as well as opening up new possibilities for discovery. For solar physics, I am interested in finding ways to use expansive datasets such as from the SDO mission to do large-scale statistical studies that were not possible in previous decades.
Acceleration of particles by the Sun. The Sun has the largest and most active magnetic field in the solar system and is the best place for us to study natural particle acceleration processes in detail. The same events which are responsible for impressive solar flares and coronal mass ejections are responsible for accelerating particles anywhere from 1 MeV up to the GeV scale. These mechanisms are likely analogous to those which accelerate ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, where kinetic energies exceeding 10^20 eV have been observed.
Coronal mass ejections, solar wind, and the space environment. Coronal mass ejections are solar events whose effects may be felt here on Earth. The acceleration of asteroid-sized amounts of material into space and the subsequent impact with the Earth's magnetic field is responsible for the auroras as well as for radio and satellite disturbances which have an impact on our modern way of life.
Structure of the heliosphere. The interaction between the heliosphere and the interstellar medium is only recently being made available to direct observation. Measurements from the still-going Voyager probes and energetic neutral particle measurements from the IBIX spacecraft have brought forth new questions about the size, shape and structure of the outer edge of our Sun's influence.
Exoplanet remote sensing. Kepler and other exoplanet efforts are expanding the catalog of known worlds. Some planets with wide orbits have already been imaged, and the atmospheres of eclipsing planets can be investigated via spectral analysis of the host star. We are just beginning to understand what variety of worlds are possible in our galaxy.

Other Interests

When I'm not working on physics or writing some computer program I like to...

Play guitar. I play mostly classical guitar, though I dabble in blues, jazz, rock, folk and country as well as Brazilian styles bossa nova and choro. I also like to experiment with a lot of different sounds, and for this I have a Brian Moore MIDI guitar and tons of software instruments like those from the Native Instruments Komplete 8 package.
Go outside. Montana is great for this. I like biking, hiking, and canoeing, though I suspect Minnesota was better for canoeing.
Travel. I've lived in Switzerland and Brazil and seen a lot of nice places along with my wonderful wife, Patricia. I suspect we'll see a lot more interesting places as time goes on.
Take photos. When I'm outside or traveling I like to take pictures. Sometimes I even take good ones. When I do, I put them on my flickr photostream. A few random pictures are shown below.