A Generation of Space Physics at KU: A Festschrift for Thomas Peyton Armstrong

Edited by Patrick R. Briggs¹ and Ramona L. Kessel²

¹Dept. of Physics, The Citadel, Charleston, SC
²Hughes STX, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

Introduction

A festschrift is "a volume of learned articles, essays, and the like, contributed by colleagues and admirers as a tribute, especially to a scholar." This book is dedicated to Thomas Peyton Armstrong, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kansas, on his 50th birthday; it is a special type of tribute: the contributions come exclusively from his former students, who consider themselves fortunate to have learned their craft under his guidance. Read more....

 

Ph.D. Abstracts
All Ph.D. students with Tom Armstrong as advisor and those for whom he was co-advisor and those he assisted in a major way

• Dennis W. Hewett, Numerical Investigation of the Free Oscillations of an Inhomogeneous Axisymmetric Plasma Column (1973)
• Gloria L. Chen, Numerical Simulation of the Interaction of Charged Particles with Oblique Magnetohydrodynamic Shocks (1975)
• Mohamad Taghi Ahmadian, A Numerical Investigation of the Two Stream Instability and Resonant Heating of an Inhomogeneous, Axisymmetric Plasma Column (1978)
• Robert B. Decker, A Numerical Simulation of Charged Particle Interactions with Interplanetary Shock Waves (1979)
• Joseph H. Nonnast, Numerical Simulation of a Disk-Shaped Accelerating Electrostatic Probe (1981)
• Rebecca C. Chaky, Numerical Simulation of Sheath Structure and Current-Voltage Characteristics of a conductor-Dielectric Disk in a Plasma (1981)
• Patrick R. Briggs, Solar and Interplanetary Ions near Earth (1981)
• Frank J. Kutchko, Analysis of Energetic Charged Particle Bursts in the Magnetotail by Numerical Modelling (1983)
• Mark Paonessa, Analysis of Voyager Observations of Ion and Electron Phase Space Densities in the Magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn (1983)
• Scott T. Brandon, Numerical Simulations of Positively-Biased Probes and Dielectric-Conductor Disks in a Plasma (1984)
• Gul F. Tariq, Voyager 2 Encounter with Ganymede's Wake: Hydromagnetic and Electrodynamic Process (1984)
• Ramona L. Kessel, Gone with the Solar Wind: A Study of Protons Accelerated by Interplanetary Shocks (1986)
• Michael R. Holmes, Electrostatic Charge on Insulating Dust Grains in a Plasma (1987)
• Yue Wu, A Molecular Dynamics Study of Radiation Induced Electrostatic Disruption of Insulator Surfaces (1988)
• E. V. Bell II, The Impact of Trapped Radiation on Natural Satellites Imbedded in Planetary Magnetospheres (1989)
• Gholam Ali Rezvani, Monte Carlo Simulation of Secondary Electron Emission from Metals and Insulators (1989)
• Joe Giacalone, Energetic Particles Accelerated by a Parallel Collisionless Shock Wave (1991)

(For a list of Tom Armstrong's Ph.D. students since the publication of this festschrift, click here.)

 

Contributions
Scientific Papers, Anecdotes, Reminiscences

• Charles Hermite Strikes Again, by D. Hewett
• An X-Type Reconnection Field Model, by P. Briggs
• Software Design of a Proof-of-Concept Air Traffic Control Display, by Eric Shank
• Professor Armstrong, the HUB, and I (1977-1981), by S. Brandon
• Electromagnetic Plasma Simulation in Realistic Geometries, by S. Brandon et al.
• New Prospects for Quasar Physics, by J. Shields
• Shock Waves--at KU and Beyond, by R. Kessel
• A Numerical Investigation of Proton Phase Space Densities, by L. Jiang
• Molecular Dynamics Techniques, by E. Wu
• On the Road with TPA, by E. Bell II
• The Scheduling Efficiency for the Hubble Space Telescope During the First Year of Operation,
  by E. Bell II
• A Study of the Structure and Evolution of the Heliospheric Current Sheet, by S. Shodhan
• Energetic Particles Accelerated by a Parallel Collisionless Shock Wave, by J. Giacalone