Photo © Howard Guest
Keith Moffatt
I am an Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Physics in the University of Cambridge, a member of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP), and a Life Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge.
email: hkm2 at cam.ac.uk
My research field is Fluid Dynamics and its applications, particularly in Geophysics and Astrophysics. My PhD thesis in 1962 was entitled Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence, a subject that I have returned to regularly ever since.
Magnetic fields are ubiquitous in planets, stars and galaxies, and indeed in the intergalactic medium. We have seen a huge revolution in the understanding of how such magnetic fields are generated, by a process of turbulent dynamo action in rotating conducting fluids. I have been privileged to contribute to this great field of scientific endeavour at critical stages in the development of the subject.
I have also contributed to other areas of fluid dynamics: slow viscous flow, free surface flow, vortex dynamics, and the more recently emerging field of Topological Fluid Dynamics, in which I have played a key role.
I am fortunate to live by the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge, with
my wife Linty. We celebrated our Diamond Wedding Anniversary
in December 2020.
In these pages, I offer an informal discussion of these topics in conjunction with comments on a selection of my published papers -- a full list of these can be found here, a Google scholar citation list here, and my cv here.
This is followed by a brief account of my early years, an account of my periods of leave from Cambridge and visits to other Universities and Institutes around the world, my three years at Bristol University, my period as Director of the Newton Institute, and my involvement with AIMS (the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences). I conclude with some family matters and some 'rhyme and rhythm' for which I must plead indulgence; do skip to these final sections if the science bores you!
The Cam froze exceptionally in January/February 1963, and again in January 1982, and ilke
Raeburn's clergyman, I could skate to work!
Flow: The Twists and Turns of a Life in Turbulence
In 2025 I wrote and released my autobiography.
"The life of an academic is in a constant state of flux and tension between work and family life. The work itself is in perpetual tension between teaching, administration and research. Research can at times be all-consuming, and it is the occasional breakthrough in scientific research that lends excitement and a great sense of worth and achievement to this activity." So writes Keith Moffatt in the foreword to this scientific autobiography. He is well qualified to do so, as a former Director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge and a former President of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. He adopts the quadrennial Congresses of this organisation as the 'Stepping Stones' of his scientific career since 1960, and then devotes chapters to his formative years before 1960 and to the highlights of his scientific career in each subsequent decade. He concludes with a chapter of his poetry and an Appendix concerning some key developments in Fluid Dynamics since 1956. Written with dry humour, modest scientific content, and occasional tragedy, this account of a scientific life will be of interest not only to the global fluid mechanics community, but more generally to the broader public with an interest in the ramifications of scientific research and collaboration on a worldwide stage.
