Record

Authorised form of nameSoward; Andrew Michael; fluid dynamicist
NationalityBritish
Place of birthLondon, England, United Kingdom
Date of birth20 October 1943
Date of death20 July 2025
OccupationFluid dynamicist
Research fieldTheoretical physics
Applied mathematics
Astrophysics
Geophysics
Fluid dynamics
Magnetohydrodynamics
ActivityEducation: Queens' College, Cambridge BA; PhD
Career: Emeritus Professor, Department of Mathematics of the University of Exeter
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election14/03/1991
Age at election47
OtherInfoWell known for his work on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and especially dynamo theory, and also for his significant contributions to linear and nonlinear stability theory. By powerful use of asymptotic analysis, he solved a number of very difficult problems in applied mathematics. By a new pseudo-Lagrangian technique for studying lightly damped fluid systems, he elucidated previously inexplicable features of Braginskii's geodynamo. Andrew also provided explicit examples of steady fast dynamo action, so disproving a conjecture that such dynamos did not exist. Andrew identified new rotating modes of nonlinear convection in rotating systems, and in collaboration with Steven Childress, established a now celebrated MHD dynamo model in a rapidly rotating Benard layer; he also gave the first demonstration that situations exist where oscillatory MHD dynamos generate magnetic fields more readily than steady flows can. Assisted by Eric R. Priest, he provided the first mathematically satisfactory account of the Petschek mechanism of magnetic field line reconnection. Andrew also gave the first complete solution of the Stefan (freezing) problem in cylindrical geometry.
SourceThe Royal Society Fellows Directory, Professor Andrew Soward FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/andrew-soward-12324/; last accessed: 20/08/2025]
CodeNA4312
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
IM/004329Soward, Andrew Michael1991
EC/1991/31Soward, Andrew Michael: certificate of election to the Royal Society1987
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