| Dean Townsley | Phone: (520)626-1857 |
| Department of Astronomy / Steward Observatory | Fax: (520)621-1532 |
| The University of Arizona | townsley@as.arizona.edu |
| 933 N. Cherry Ave. | http://variable.as.arizona.edu |
| Tucson, AZ 85721 |
| Fall 1998 -- Summer 2004 | University of California, Santa Barbara Ph.D. Physics Thesis: The Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarf Stars Advisor: Lars Bildsten |
| Fall 1993 -- Spring 1998 | Florida State University B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Physics, & Applied Mathematics, summa cum laude and with honors in the liberal arts |
Increasing fundamental understanding of stellar physics by studying diverse dynamic stellar phenomena. White dwarf stellar remnants in mass-transferring binaries, particularly their thermal state and seismological characteristics. Using these results with observational measurements to furthur our understanding of compact stellar binaries. Nuclear burning on the WD surface in these accreting systems (Classical Novae). Flame propagation in the WD interior during a Type Ia supernova and the relation of the progenitor to the resulting explosion.
| Fall 2008 -- present | at The University of Arizona as the Bart J. Bok Fellow |
| Fall 2004 -- Summer 2008 | at University of Chicago with James Truran, The Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics and The Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes |
| Summer 2000 -- Summer 2004 | at University of California, Santa Barbara with Lars Bildsten in Theoretical Astrophysics on The Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarfs |
| Summer 1995 -- Summer 1998 | at Florida State University with Per Arne Rikvold & Mark Novotny in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics on 3D Dynamical Simulations of Ising Ferromagnets |
| Winter -- Spring 2002 | U.C., Santa Barbara Discussion Section, General Physics for Physics Majors |
2008-11 "Research Into the Systematics of Type Ia supernovae", (co-I, PI: Alan Calder, SUNY, Stonybrook, NY) NASA Astrophysics Theory and Fundamental Physics Program
2008-9 "Study of the Fundamental Properties of Buoyancy-Driven Turbulent Nuclear Burning in the Context of Type Ia Supernovae," (collaborator, PI: Raymond Bair, Argonne National Laboratory), ANL Laboratory-Directed Research and Development program
2008-9 "Making the Standard Candle: A study of how the progenitor white dwarf modulates the peak luminosity of type Ia supernovae" follow-on, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science (collaborator; PI: Alan Calder, SUNY, Stonybrook, NY)
2007-8 "Making the Standard Candle: A study of how the progenitor white dwarf modulates the peak luminosity of type Ia supernovae", U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science (co-I; PI: Alan Calder, SUNY, Stonybrook, NY)
2002 "Compressional Heating of Accreting White Dwarfs and Classical Novae Ignition" Cycle 11 Hubble Space Telescope Theory Grant, AR-09517.01-A (co-I; PI: Lars Bildsten)
2009 TeraGrid, "Evaluating Systematic Dependencies, Physical Consistency, Theoretical Uncertainty and Observable Characteristics in Computational Models of Type Ia Supernovae", awarded 5.3 Million CPU hours on TACC Ranger.
2009 INCITE Program, "Study of Buoyancy-Driven Turbulent Nuclear Burning and
Validation of Type Ia Supernova Models", awarded 70 Million CPU hours,
(co-I; PI: Don Lamb)
2008 Argonne National Laboratory BG/P Early user program (co-I, PI: Raymond Bair, ANL)
2007 INCITE Program, "Study of the Gravitationally Confined Detonation
Mechanism for Type Ia Supernovae", awarded 2.5 Million CPU hours,
(co-I; PI: Don Lamb)
2006, "A Multilongitude campaign on the pulsating white dwarf
SDSSJ1610-0102",
(co-I; PI: Boris Gänsicke)
2004, "Determining the Instability Strip for Accreting White Dwarfs",
(co-I; PI: Paula Szkody) HST GO 10233
2003, "Discovery of New Pulsating CV Primaries with JCAM",
(co-I; PI: Derek Fox) Palomar
Townsley, D.M., Jackson, Calder, A.C.,
A., Chamulak, D.A., Brown, E.F., & Timmes, F.X.
"Evaluating Systematic Dependencies of Type Ia Supernovae:
The Influence of Progenitor 22Ne Content on Dynamics"
2009 ApJ, 701,1582
(arXiv:0906.4384)
Townsley, D.M., Gänsicke, B.T.
"Cataclysmic Variable Primary Effective Temperatures:
Constraints on Binary Angular Momentum Loss",
2009 ApJ, 693, 1007
(arXiv:0811.2447)
Seitenzahl, I.R., Meakin, C.A., Townsley, D.M,
Lamb, D.Q., & Truran, J.W.
"Spontaneous Initiation of Detonations in White Dwarf Environments: Determination of Critical
Sizes"
2009 ApJ, 696, 515
(arXiv:0901.3677)
Townsley, D.M.
"Treating Unresolvable Flame Physics in Simulations of Thermonuclear
Supernovae",
2009
Computing in Science and Engineering, V. 11, Iss. 2, 18
Meakin, C.A., Seitenzahl, I.R., Townsley, D.M,
Jordan, G.C. IV,
Truran, J.W., & Lamb, D.Q.
"Study of the Detonation Phase in the Gravitationally Confined Detonation Model of Type Ia
Supernovae",
2009 ApJ, 693, 1188
(arXiv:0806.4972)
Seitenzahl, I.R., Townsley, D.M., Peng, F., & Truran, J.W.
"Nuclear Statistical Equilibrium for Type Ia Supernova Simulations",
2009
ADNDT, 95, 96
Southworth, J., Townsley, D.M., Gänsicke, B.T.
"Orbital periods of cataclysmic variables identified by the SDSS – IV. SDSS J220553.98+115553.7 has stopped
pulsating",
2008 MNRAS, 388, 709
Townsley, D.M., Bair, R.A., Dubey, A.,
Fisher, R.T., Hearn, N.C., Lamb, D.Q., Riley, K.M.
"Large-scale simulations of buoyancy-driven turbulent nuclear burning",
2008 J.
Phys.: Conf. Ser. 125 012001 (SciDAC 2008 refereed conference proceedings)
Jordan, G.C., Fisher, R.T., Townsley, D.M., Calder, A.C.,
Graziani, C., Asida, S., Lamb, D.Q. & Truran, J.W.
"Three-Dimensional Simulations of the Deflagration Phase of the Gravitationally
Confined Detonation Model of Type Ia Supernovae",
2008
ApJ, 681, 1448
(astro-ph/0703573)
Townsley, D.M., Calder, A.C., Asida, S.,
Seitenzahl, I.R., Peng, F., Vladimirova, N.,
Lamb, D.Q., & Truran, J.W.
"Flame Evolution During the Deflagration Phase of Type Ia Supernovae",
2007,
ApJ, 668, 1118
(arXiv:0706.1094)
Calder, A.C., Townsley, D.M., Seitenzahl, I.R., Peng, F.,
Messer, O.E.B., Vladimirova, N., Brown, E.F., Truran, J.W.,
& Lamb, D.Q.
"Capturing the Fire: Flame Energetics and Neutronizaton for Type Ia
Supernova Simulations",
2007, ApJ, 656, 313
( astro-ph/0611009)
Arras, P., Townsley, D. M., & Bildsten, L.
"Pulsational Instabilities in Accreting White Dwarfs",
2006 ApJ,
643, L119 (astro-ph/0604319)
Bildsten, L., Townsley, D. M., Deloye, C. J., & Nelemans, G.
"The Thermal State of the Accreting White Dwarf in AM Canum Venaticorum Binaries",
2006
ApJ, 640, 466
(astro-ph/0510652)
Townsley, D. M. & Bildsten, L.
"Classical Novae as a Probe of the
Cataclysmic Variable Population",
2005
ApJ, 628, 395
(astro-ph/0503556)
Townsley, D. M., Arras, P., & Bildsten, L.
"Seismology of the Accreting White Dwarf in GW lib",
2004
ApJ, 608, L105
(astro-ph/0405132)
Townsley, D. M. & Bildsten, L.
"Theoretical Modeling of the Thermal
State of Accreting White Dwarfs Undergoing Classical Nova Cycles",
2004
ApJ, 600, 390
(astro-ph/0306080)
Townsley, D. M. & Bildsten, L.
"Measuring White Dwarf Accretion Rates via Their Effective Temperatures",
2003
ApJ, 596, L227
(astro-ph/0309208)
Townsley, D. M. & Bildsten, L.
"Faint Cataclysmic Variables in
Quiescence: Globular Cluster and Field Surveys",
2002
ApJ, 565, L35
(astro-ph/0112270)
Novotny, M. A., Rikvold, P. A., Kolesik, M., Townsley, D. M., and Ramos, R. A.
"Simulations of metastable decay in two- and three-dimensional models with
microscopic dynamics",
2000, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 274, 356
Townsley, D.M.
"Comparing Thermonuclear Runaway Conditions in Recurrent and Classical
Novae"
RS Ophiuci 2006, in press
Townsley, D. M. & Bildsten, L.
"The Thermal Structure and Evolution of Accreting White Dwarfs"
Proceedings of the 15th European White Dwarf Workshop, in press.
Arras, P., Townsley, D., & Bildsten, L.
"Seismology of Accreting White Dwarfs"
2005,
ASP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 330,
The Astrophysics of Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, p. 251,
Edited by J.-M. Hameury and J.-P. Lasota. (San Francisco: ASP),
(astro-ph/0410313)
Townsley, D. M. & Bildsten, L.
"Physical Interpretation of Dwarf Nova
Primary Effective Temperatures"
2004, Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y
Astrofísica (Serie de Conferencias) Vol. 20. IAU Colloquium 194, pp. 192-193
Townsley, D. M. & Bildsten, L.
"White Dwarf Colors in Low Accretion Rate Binaries"
2003, NATO Science Series II --
Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, Vol. 105, p. 351 (Klewer),
(astro-ph/0209195)
Bildsten, L. & Townsley, D.M.
"Internal Conditions of Accreting White Dwarfs"
2003, NATO Science Series II --
Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, Vol. 105, p. 313 (Klewer),
(astro-ph/0209197)
Townsley, D.M. & Bildsten, L.
"Compressional heating of accreting white dwarfs in CVs"
2002, ASP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 261, The Physics of
Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, p. 31 (San Francisco:ASP),
(astro-ph/0112267)
August 24, 2009, "Thermonuclear Supernovae, Their Stellar Origins, and the Makeup of The Universe", Physics and Astronomy Colloquium, University of Alabama
March 16, 2009, "Long Term Variation of Quiescent Effective Temperatures of CV White Dwarfs", Wild Stars in the Old West II, University of Arizona
November 24, 2008, "Thermonuclear Supernovae, Their Stellar Origins, and the Makeup of The Universe", Theoretical Astrophysics Seminar, University of Arizona
September 18, 2008, "Thermonuclear Supernovae, Their Stellar Origins, and the Makeup of The Universe", Astrophysics Seminar, Arizona State University
August 28, 2008, "Accretion-induced Thermonuclear Incineration of White Dwarf Stars", Conference The Equation of State in Astrophysics at Argonne National Laboratory
April 16, 2008, "White Dwarf Stars in Mass Transferring Binaries and their Outbursts", Astrophysics Seminar, State University of New York -- Stonybrook
March 18, 2008, "Thermonuclear Supernovae, Their Stellar Origins, and the Makeup of The Universe", Physics Division Seminar, Argonne National Laboratory
January 15, 2008, "Thermonuclear Supernovae, Their Stellar Origins, and the Makeup of The Universe", Physics Colloquium, North Carolina State University
November 5, 2007, "Explosions in Mass Transferring White Dwarf Stellar Binaries", Nuclear Astrophysics Seminar, Notre Dame University
October 26, 2007, "Explosions in Mass Transferring White Dwarf Stellar Binaries", Astrophysics Colloquium, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
June 12, 2007, "Comparing Classical and Recurrent Novae", Invited Talk, RS Oph 2006
March 20, 2007, "Hydrogen Ignitions in Cataclysmic Variables", Invited Talk, KITP Conference: Accretion and Explosion
March 1, 2007, "Flame Evolution During the Deflagration of a White Dwarf in a Type Ia Supernova" Monthly astrophysics lunch seminar, Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago
August 10, 2006, "The Thermal Structure and Evolution of Accreting White Dwarfs" The 15th European White Dwarf Workshop, Leicester, U.K.
August 3, 2006, "Accreting WD Adiabatic Seismology and GW Lib", CV WD workshop, University of Warwick, U.K.
August 3, 2006, "Determining Average Accretion Rate from Effective Temperature", CV WD workshop, University of Warwick, U.K.
January 18, 2006, "Accreting WD Adiabatic Seismology and GW Lib", Invited Talk, Pulsating CV WD Workshop, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara
July 15, 2005, "The Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarfs and What It Tells Us About the Evolution of Compact Binaries", Seminar, IEEC, Barcelona, Spain
July 6, 2005, "Thermal Evolution of AM CVn Primaries", Invited Talk, AM CVn Workshop, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
March 3, 2005, "Characterizing and Understanding Accreting White Dwarf Stars", Seminar, Argonne National Lab, Chicago
October 4, 2004, "The Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarfs and What They Tell Us About the Evolution of Compact Binaries", Seminar, Michigan State University
September 15, 2003, "The Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarfs Undergoing Classical Novae", Seminar, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
September 10, 2003, "The Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarfs Undergoing Classical Novae", Seminar, ASCI Flash Center, University of Chicago
January 28, 2003, "Theoretical Expectations for Quiescent CV Colors", Invited Talk, KITP Conference: Globular Clusters: Formation, Evolution and the Role of Compact Objects, http://online.kitp.ucsb.edu/online/clusters_c03/townsley/
May 16, 2007, "Flame Evolution and the Properties of Ias in the Gravitationally Confined Detonation Scenario", KITP Workshop: White Dwarfs, Accretion and Explosion
May 16, 2007, "Classical Novae and the Thermal History of CV White Dwarfs", KITP Workshop: White Dwarfs, Accretion and Explosion
October 7, 2005, "The Astrophysical Conditions of Classical Nova Nucleosynthesis", Contributed Talk, Argonne National Lab Nuclear Theory Workshop, Chicago
October 23, 2003, "Pulsations on Accreting White Dwarfs", Contributed Talk, Theoretical Astrophysics in Southern California Meeting 2003, UCLA
September 18, 2003, "The Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarfs Undergoing Classical Novae", Seminar, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
April 10, 2003, "The Thermal State of Accreting White Dwarfs Undergoing Classical Novae", Seminar, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, UCSB, http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/astro99/townsley/
October 18, 2002, "Spectral evolution of Old Cataclysmic Variables", Contributed Talk, Theoretical Astrophysics in Southern California Meeting 2002, KITP, UCSB
January 9, 2002, "Physics of Accreting White Dwarf Stars", Seminar, UCSB
October 26, 2001, "Compressional Heating of Accreting White Dwarfs", Contributed Talk, 1st Theoretical Astrophysics in Southern California Meeting, Caltech
April 26, 2001, "Compressional Heating of Accreting White Dwarfs", Seminar, KITP, UCSB
December 11, 2004, "The Life of a Star", Saturday Academy for Space Science (extracurricular high school science program), Chicago State University
Townsley, Dean
"Installing Linux (with pen support) on the Acer Travelmate C100."
2003, LinuxDevices.com
http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT9956715302.html