Introduction
Welcome to my site. I'm a Ph.D. graduate student at McMaster university studying star formation with Ralph Pudritz. My main interest is in the role of magnetic fields in star formation, from simple, quiescent, collapsing cores to complex, turbulent, fragmenting clouds of many Jeans' masses. In particular, I am studying the effects of ambipolar diffusion, the slip of the magnetic field in a mostly neutral gas.
Several key questions we are currently trying to understand:
- How do you form binaries in the face of strong magnetic pressure?
- What types of structures form in the collapse? What are the consequences for how outflows and jets are launched? What are the consequences for planet formation?
- What do magnetic fields do in the supersonic and super-alfvenic turbulence present in most molecular clouds? Do they suppress fragmentation? Do they delay star formation? Do they they increase the star formation efficiency?
- Can we build an understanding of the magnetic flux present in early protostellar cores? What are the consequences on star formation? How does this tie in to the first questions above?
Low Down
Ph.D. student under Ralph Pudritz studying star formation through numerical simulations.
M. Sc., McMaster University
Hons. B. Sc. with Distinction, University of Toronto
Musician: Flamenco Guitarist. Recorded with Joanna Moon
Contact Information
duffindf[at]mcmaster.ca
(905)-525-9140 ext. 24574
McMaster University, ABB 253
coolstuff
Tilted disk
This tilted disk is a snippet from a new paper we're preparing on early protostellar disk formation. In this Bonnor-Ebert sphere collapse, the magnetic field and axis of rotation were misaligned by 15 degrees, leading to a somewhat skewed disk. Grey contours are density, blue contours are temperature and red contours are outward velocity from the protostellar outflow. Yellow lines represent magnetic field lines.
latest news
12 October 2009
New astroph paper is out! Check it out
here.
19 October 2009
New website! Some actual structure!
key words
This tilted disk is a snippet from a new paper we're preparing on early protostellar disk formation. In this Bonnor-Ebert sphere collapse, the magnetic field and axis of rotation were misaligned by 15 degrees, leading to a somewhat skewed disk. Grey contours are density, blue contours are temperature and red contours are outward velocity from the protostellar outflow. Yellow lines represent magnetic field lines.
New astroph paper is out! Check it out here.
New website! Some actual structure!