Prof Valentina Zharkova

Emeritus Professor

Department: Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering

I am a Professor in Mathematics at Northumbria University. I have BSc/MSc in Applied Mathematics and Astronomy, a Ph.D. in Astrophysics, certificate in project management.

I graduated from the National University of Kyiv, Ukraine in 1975 with a BSc/M.Sc. first class with distinction degree in Applied Mathematics and Physics (joint honours). In 1975-1978 worked as Junior researcher at Physics and Applied Maths Department, then moved to the Solar Division of the Main Astronomical Observatory, Kyiv, Ukraine for my Ph.D. studies in Applied Mathematics/Solar Theory. After successfully defending my thesis in non-LTE radiative transfer entitled “Hydrogen emission in quiescent solar prominences with filamentary structure", I worked at Space Science Laboratory, Physics Department, National University of Kyiv as junior researcher, lecturer/researcher senior lecturer/senior researcher (1978-1994). In 1992 I joined the Astronomy Group of Glasgow University as the Senior Royal Society visitor, then a Research Fellow (1993-1999). In 2000 I became a Lecturer at the University of Bradford, in 2002 I was appointed to a Reader and in 2005 to a Professor in Applied Mathematics. From September 2013 I joined the Northumbria University as a Professor in Mathematics.

Email Valentina

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

I have a wide range of research interests in solar and solar-terrestrial plasma physics, solar/medical imaging and pattern recognition/ classification. In general, I am interested in:

Solutions of non-linear partial differential equations (PDEs):
- particle motion in 3D magnetic field topology
- Fokker-Planck equations for particle precipitation
- radiative transfer PDEs for multi-level atoms

Solutions of systems of non-linear PDEs:
- two fluid hydrodynamics,
- multi-elements radiative transfer,
- Particle-in-Cell (PIC) (joint solutions motion PDE with Maxwell equations)

- Magnetic Topology during magnetic reconnection
- Impact Excitation/Ionisation by thermal and non-thermal electrons/protons
- Automated pattern recognition on full disk solar images
- Artificial Intelligence Methods
- Solar activity patterns derived from long series (>36 years) of full disk magnetograms
- Classification of solar activity patterns with Artificial Intelligence methods (ANN, MCMC etc.)
- Interpretation of solar activity patterns with Parker’s two layer solar dynamo model
- Pattern recognition and classification in EGSO (EU funded project) - Solar Feature Catalogues

More information on the research carried by Prof. Zharkova can be found here.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Comparison of solar activity proxies: eigen vectors versus averaged sunspot numbers, Zharkova, V., Vasilieva, I., Popova, E., Shepherd, S. 1 Jun 2023, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Eigenvectors of solar magnetic field in cycles 21–24 and their links to solar activity indices, Zharkova, V., Shepherd, S. 1 Jun 2022, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kinetic Plasma Turbulence Generated in a 3D Current Sheet With Magnetic Islands, Zharkova, V., Xia, Q. 26 Nov 2021, In: Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
Pitch-angle distribution of accelerated electrons in 3D current sheets with magnetic islands, Zharkova, V., Xia, Q. Apr 2021, In: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Counterstreaming strahls and heat flux dropouts as possible signatures of local particle acceleration in the solar wind, Khabarova, O., Zharkova, V., Xia, Q., Malandraki, O. 5 May 2020, In: Astrophysical Journal Letters
Modern Grand Solar Minimum will lead to terrestrial cooling, Zharkova, V. 2 Jul 2020, In: Temperature
Particle acceleration and transport during 3D CME eruptions, Xia, Q., Dahlin, J., Zharkova, V., Antiochos, S. 8 May 2020, In: Astrophysical Journal
Particle acceleration in coalescent and squashed magnetic islands: II. Particle-in-cell approach, Xia, Q., Zharkova, V. Mar 2020, In: Astronomy & Astrophysics
Retraction Note: Oscillations of the baseline of solar magnetic field and solar irradiance on a millennial timescale (Scientific Reports, (2019), 9, 1, (9197), 10.1038/s41598-019-45584-3), Zharkova, V., Shepherd, S., Zharkov, S., Popova, E. 4 Mar 2020, In: Scientific Reports
Sunquake with a second bounce, other sunquakes, and emission associated with the X9.3 flare of 6 September 2017: II. Proposed interpretation, Zharkova, V., Zharkov, S., Druett, M., Matthews, S., Inoue, S. Jul 2020, In: Astronomy and Astrophysics