My CV

I just had a paper accepted and was updating my publications list, so I thought I'd post my full CV for the pedalo's worth of people googling me.

For anyone interested, I would recommend Number 5 and Number 12 in my publications list (which are also open access).

Education and Employment

2019-Present	Postdoctoral Research Associate - Division of Mathematics, University of Dundee Simulations of the slow Solar wind
2018-2019	Postdoctoral Research Associate - Space Research Centre, University of Leicester SMILE & SVOM space missions
2016-2018	Postdoctoral Research Associate - MIT PSFC - Seconded to Joint European Torus Alfvén Eigenmode Active Diagnostic
2012-2016	PhD in Plasma Physics - York Plasma Institute, University of York Thesis title: “Extreme ultraviolet lasers and their interactions with matter”
2008-2012	MPhys - University of Oxford First Class Master’s thesis title: “Phase retrieval techniques for longitudinal bunch profiling using coherent Smith-Purcell Radiation”

Selected publications

1. V. Aslanyan and G. J. Tallents “Local thermodynamic equilibrium in rapidly heated high energy density plasmas” Physics of Plasmas 21, 062702 (2014)

2. V. Aslanyan and G. J. Tallents “Opacity bleaching by extreme ultraviolet radiation incident on solid density targets” Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers

3. A. K. Rossall, V. Aslanyan, G. J. Tallents, I. Kuznetsov, J. J. Rocca, and C. S. Menoni “Ablation of Submicrometer Holes Using an Extreme-Ultraviolet Laser” Physical Review Applied 3, 064013 (2015)

4. V. Aslanyan and G. J. Tallents “Ionization rate coefficients in warm dense plasmas” Physical Review E 91, 063106 (2015)

5. V. Aslanyan, I. Kuznetsov, H. Bravo, et al. “Ablation and transmission of thin solid targets irradiated by intense extreme ultraviolet laser radiation” APL Photonics 1, 066101 (2016)

6. V. Aslanyan and G. J. Tallents “Efficient Calculation of Atomic Rate Coefficients in Dense Plasmas” AIP Conference Proceedings 1811, 080001 (2017)

7. V. Aslanyan, A. G. Aslanyan, and G. J. Tallents “Efficient calculation of degenerate atomic rates by numerical quadrature on GPUs” Computer Physics Communications 219, 261 (2017)

8. V. Aslanyan, M. Porkolab, et al. “Progress and first measurements from the upgraded Alfvén Eigenmode Active Diagnostic on JET” Proceedings of the 44th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics (2017)

9. V. Aslanyan, S. E. Sharapov, D. A. Spong and M. Porkolab “Two Species Drag/Diffusion Model for Energetic Particle Driven Modes” Physics of Plasmas 24, 122511 (2017)

10. F. Nabais, V. Aslanyan, D. Borba, et al. “TAE stability calculations compared to TAE antenna results in JET” Nuclear Fusion 58, 082007 (2018)

11. V. Aslanyan, S. Taimourzadeh, L. Shi, et al. “Gyrokinetic simulations of Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes excited by energetic ions and external antennas on the Joint European Torus” Nuclear Fusion 59, 026008 (2019)

12. V. Aslanyan, K. Keresztes, C. Feldman, et al. “Design and implementation of electron diverters for lobster eye space-based X-ray optics” Review of Scientific Instruments 90, 124502 (2019)

13. V. Aslanyan, D. I. Pontin, et al. “Effects of Pseudostreamer Boundary Dynamics on Heliospheric Field and Wind” The Astrophysical Journal 909, 10 (2021)

14. V. Aslanyan, D. I. Pontin, et al. “The Dynamic Coupling of Streamers and Pseudostreamers to the Heliosphere” The Astrophysical Journal 929, 185 (2022)

15. V. Aslanyan, D. I. Pontin, et al. “The Dynamic Structure of Coronal Hole Boundaries” The Astrophysical Journal 931, 96 (2022)

Selected conference attendance

COSPAR 2022 - 44th Scientific Assembly (Athens, Greece, July 2022) - contributed talk.

59th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 2017) - contributed talk.

44th European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics (Belfast, UK, June 2017) - poster presentation.

58th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics (San Jose, California, October 2016) - poster presentation.

19th International Conference on Atomic Processes in Plasmas (Paris, April 2016) - contributed talk.

57th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics (Savannah, Georgia, November 2015) - contributed talk.

Joint ICTP-IAEA Advanced School on Modern Methods in Plasma Spectroscopy (Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, March 2015) - poster presentation.

14th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers (Colorado State University, May 2014) - poster presentation.

J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" review: the novels are excellent proponents of science

It might seem that the world of magic J.K. Rowling paints is one which defies logic. There are strange spells and curses, enchanted lifeforms and potentially magical chemical elements and states of matter. Certainly, the books leave many logistical questions unanswered (see my previous Westworld review) and it fails what I call the Stargate Atlantis test:

In Stargate, humans have just built their first dainty interstellar ship with a great deal of help from advanced benevolent aliens. To fight off an entire armada of evil aliens, humans use advanced teleportation technology to instantly teleport nuclear warheads (mid-1940s technology) to their adversaries' spaceships.

Therefore, any science fiction or fantasy work where teleportation is possible must first answer the questions: why don't the protagonists teleport a nuclear bomb to the spaceship/evil lair/haunted mansion of the villain? Why use wands or laser guns instead of teleporting sharp bits of metal into the skulls of the evil henchmen or garlic-encrusted wooden stakes into the hearts of vampires? Then, answer similar questions for all the other fantastical concepts.

Where I think the Harry Potter franchise shines, however, is in its portrayal of the scientific method and, to some extent, modern government. Because, when faced with all their weird magical challenges, the witches and wizards of J.K. Rowling's imagined universe act as calmly and rationally as we do in our muggle world.

Each magical aspect of their world is analyzed by an appropriate academic discipline: with a corresponding subject studied by the protagonists at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry. Each of the disciplines has falsifiable hypotheses and an established professionalism - wizards are not "tired of experts". And as with us muggles, academic and theoretical disciplines are leveraged into practical real-world benefits, though there is less emphasis on private enterprise than on centralized institutions. This may be because of the above-mentioned lack of logistical description, or because in many ways the wizards are close to a post-scarcity economy: who would start a cleaning company when self-driving brooms are available?

Harry Potter gives a great example of why spirituality and "the supernatural" is such rubbish: the scientific method, intellectual debate and cataloguing of the observable world is just as valid for dragons as it is for General Relativity. To be taken seriously: make falsifiable predictions, follow up threads of enquiry and establish rigorously reviewed expertise.

To be honest, the manifesto for the scientific method is all I got from reading the books. My mind glazed over when trying to understand the plot, even after having my friends explain it half a dozen times. I think it centers around a villain whose name most characters don't want to say. Given how rational the rest of the magic-users' behaviour is and how powerful magic spells can be cast with a single word, is it so crazy to err away from vocalizing the name Voldermort?