Dr Istvan Ballai

School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Senior Lecturer

i.ballai@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 3833

Full contact details

Dr Istvan Ballai
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
H9
Hicks Building
Hounsfield Road
Sheffield
S3 7RH
Research interests

Dr. Istvan Ballai's main research interest is in linear and nonlinear MHD waves occurring in solar and interplanetary plasmas.

Waves can carry energy and momentum; when transferred to inhomogeneous plasmas they can heat or accelerate the plasma therefore MHD waves may play an important role in explaining the observed high temperatures in the solar corona. Waves can transport information about the environment in which they propagate, so they serve as a perfect tool for plasma diagnostics.

We use local and global coronal waves to find average values for magnetic field and transport coefficients in the solar corona. When the temperature of the plasma is not high enough to ensure a full ionisation, the plasma becomes partially ionised with particles of different species colliding and modifying each other momentum and energy.

Dr Istvan Ballai's reserch interest also covers dynamical aspects in such plasmas, including waves and instabilities, non-equilibrium effects, etc.

Publications

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All publications

Journal articles

Conference proceedings papers

  • Kozak L, Petrenko B, Kronberg E, Akhmetshyn R & Ballai I (2023) Wave-particle interactions in the Earth magnetotail during dipolarization. EGU General Assembly 2023. Vienna, Austria, 23 April 2023 - 23 April 2023. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Cho Y-H, Lim J, Kalra A, Nair V, Rontogiannis G, Seniuc I-V, Schiona A, Narayanankutty G, Ioannou K, Lennard MG , Appleby B et al (2019) Sheffield University Nova Rocket Innovative Design Engineering (SUNRIDE). 24th ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research Proceedings (pp 122-127). Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 16 June 2019 - 20 June 2019. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I (2007) Global coronal seismology. SOLAR PHYSICS, Vol. 246(1) (pp 177-185) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Marcu A & Ballai I (2007) Thermally damped waves in the solar corona. FLOWS, BOUNDARIES, INTERACTIONS, Vol. 934 (pp 64-70) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I (2007) MHD waves in stratified and dissipative plasmas. Fifty Years of Romanian Astrophysics, Vol. 895 (pp 141-146) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I (2006) Nonlinear waves in solar plasmas - a review. First International Workshop and Summer School on Plasma Physics, Vol. 44 (pp 20-29) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I, Thelen JC & Roberts B (2002) Wave damping in hall plasmas - Application to the solar wind. SOLMAG 2002: PROCEEDINGS OF THE MAGNETIC COUPLING OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE EUROCONFERENCE AND IAU COLLOQUIUM 188, Vol. 505 (pp 345-348) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I, Erdelyi R & Goossens M (2000) Linear and nonlinear waves in dilute plasmas. WAVES IN DUSTY, SOLAR, AND SPACE PLASMAS, Vol. 537 (pp 152-159) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I, Erdelyi R & Goossens M (2000) Absorption of fast magnetosonic waves in the solar atmosphere in the limit of weak nonlinearity. WAVES IN DUSTY, SOLAR, AND SPACE PLASMAS, Vol. 537 (pp 144-151) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Erdelyi R, Ballai I & Ruderman MS (1999) Strongly nonlinear resonant MHD waves in the steady solar magnetic canopy. 9TH EUROPEAN MEETING ON SOLAR PHYSICS: MAGNETIC FIELDS AND SOLAR PROCESSES, VOLS 1 AND 2, Vol. 448 (pp 263-267) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I & Erdelyi R (1999) Nonlinear resonant MHD waves in the atmosphere of the sun. 8TH SOHO WORKSHOP: PLASMA DYNAMICS AND DIAGNOSTICS IN THE SOLAR TRANSITION REGION AND CORONA, PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 446 (pp 155-160) RIS download Bibtex download

Preprints

  • Schiavo LACA, Gordovskyy M, Browning PK, Silva SSA, Verth G, Ballai I, Shelyag S, Ruzheinikov SN, McLaughlin JA & Fedun V (2024) Modeling the effects of a lightbridge on oscillations in a solar pore. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Jafarzadeh S, Schiavo LAC, Fedun V, Solanki SK, Stangalini M, Calchetti D, Verth G, Jess DB, Grant SDT, Ballai I , Gafeira R et al (2024) Sausage, kink, and fluting MHD wave modes identified in solar magnetic pores by Solar Orbiter/PHI, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • McMurdo M, Ballai I, Verth G, Alharbi A & Fedun V (2023) Phase mixing of propagating Alfv{é}n waves in a single-fluid partially ionized solar plasma. RIS download Bibtex download
  • O. C, A. F, A. V, Yu. S, I. B, G. V & V F (2023) Atmospheric waves disturbances from the solar terminator according to the VLF radio stations data, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Albidah AB, Fedun V, Aldhafeeri AA, Ballai I, Jess DB, Brevis W, Higham J, Stangalini M, Silva SSA, MacBride CD & Verth G (2023) The temporal and spatial evolution of MHD wave modes in sunspots. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Aldhafeeri A, Verth G, Fedun V, Lennard M & Ballai I (2022) Comparison of exact and approximate MHD slow body mode solutions in photospheric waveguides, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Skirvin S, Verth G, González-Avilés JJ, Shelyag S, Sharma R, Guzmán F, Ballai I, Scullion E, Silva SSA & Fedun V (2022) Small-scale solar jet formation and their associated waves and instabilities, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Silva SSA, Murabito M, Jafarzadeh S, Stangliani M, Verth G, Ballai I & Fedun V (2022) The importance of horizontal Poynting flux in the solar photosphere, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Aljohani Y, Fedun V, Ballai I, Silva SSA, Shelyag S & Verth G (2022) New approach for analysing dynamical processes on the surface of photospheric vortex tubes, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Alharbi A, Ballai I, Fedun V & Verth G (2022) Waves in weakly ionised solar plasmas, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Albidah AB, Fedun V, Aldhafeeri AA, Ballai I, Brevis W, Jess DB, Higham J, Stangalini M, Silva SSA & Verth G (2022) Magnetohydrodynamic wave mode identification in circular and elliptical sunspot umbrae: evidence for high order modes, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Forgács-Dajka E, Dobos L & Ballai I (2021) Time-dependent properties of sunspot groups -- I. Lifetime and asymmetric evolution, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Alharbi A, Ballai I, Fedun V & Verth G (2020) Slow magnetoacoustic waves in gravitationally stratified two-fluid plasmas in strongly ionised limit, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Albidah AB, Brevis W, Fedun V, Ballai I, Jess DB, Stangalini M, Higham J & Verth G (2020) Proper Orthogonal and Dynamic Mode Decomposition of Sunspot Data, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Rast MP, González NB, Rubio LB, Cao W, Cauzzi G, DeLuca E, De Pontieu B, Fletcher L, Gibson SE, Judge PG , Katsukawa Y et al (2020) Critical Science Plan for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST), arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I (2020) Diagnostics of plasma ionisation using torsional Alfén waves, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Vickers E, Ballai I & Erdélyi R (2019) Magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor Instability at a Contact Discontinuity With Oblique Magnetic Field, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I, Forgacs-Dajka E & Marcu A (2018) Dispersive shock waves in partially ionised plasmas, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Vickers E, Ballai I & Erdélyi R (2018) Propagation of Leaky MHD Waves at Discontinuities with Tilted Magnetic Field, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mather JF, Ballai I & Erdelyi R (2017) Dissipative instabilities in a partially ionised prominence plasma slab: II. The effect of compressibility, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I, Pinter B, Oliver R & Alexandrou M (2017) Dissipative instability in a partially ionised prominence slab, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Gyenge N, Ballai I & Baranyi T (2016) Statistical study of spatio-temporal distribution of precursor solar flares associated with major flares, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I, Oliver R & Alexandrou M (2015) Dissipative instability in partially ionised prominence plasmas, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Balázs LG, Gyenge N, Korsós MB, Baranyi T, Forgács-Dajka E & Ballai I (2014) Statistical relationship between the succeeding solar flares detected by the RHESSI satellite, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pardi A-L, Ballai I, Marcu A & Orza B (2013) Sausage Mode Propagation in a Thick Magnetic Flux Tube, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Murawski K, Ballai I, Srivastava AK & Lee D (2013) Three-dimensional numerical simulation of magnetohydrodynamic-gravity waves and vortices in the solar atmosphere, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I & Orza B (2012) Transverse kink oscillations of expanding coronal loops, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Orza B, Ballai I, Jain R & Murawski K (2011) The effect of the environment on the P1/P2 period ratio for kink oscillations of coronal loops, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I, Jess DB & Douglas M (2011) TRACE Observations of Driven Loop Oscillations, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I & Ruderman M (2010) Nonlinear effects in resonant layers in solar and space plasmas, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Clack CTM, Ballai I & Douglas M (2010) Resonant Absorption of Fast Magnetoacoustic Waves due to Coupling into the Slow and Alfven Continua in the Solar Atmosphere, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Terradas J, Goossens M & Ballai I (2009) The effect of longitudinal flow on resonantly damped kink oscillations, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Clack CTM & Ballai I (2009) Mean shear flows generated by nonlinear resonant Alfven waves, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Clack C & Ballai I (2009) Nonlinear resonant absorption of fast magnetoacoustic waves in strongly anisotropic and dispersive plasmas, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Clack CTM, Ballai I & Ruderman MS (2008) On the validity of nonlinear Alfven resonance in space plasmas, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Clack C & Ballai I (2008) Nonlinear theory of resonant slow waves in anisotropic and dispersive plasmas, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I, Douglas M & Marcu A (2008) Forced oscillations of coronal loops driven by EIT waves, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ballai I (2007) Global coronal seismology, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
Research group

Plasma Dynamics Group

Grants

Past grants, as Principal Investigator

Instabilities in partially ionized prominence plasmas Leverhulme
Damping of Forced Oscillations in Coronal Loops RS
Conference Attendance RS
Global Coronal Seismology Using SOHO/EIT Observations Nuffield

Past grants, as Coinvestigator

Application to STFC for Consolidated Grant Support for the Solar Physics and Space Plasma Research Centre (SP2RC) STFC
Consolidated Grant Support for the Solar Physics and Space Plasma Research Centre (SP2RC) STFC
Heating and Magneto-Seismology of the Solar Atmosphere STFC
Teaching interests
  • Differential and difference equations
  • Complex Analysis
  • Numerical methods