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Dr. James Horwitz Dr. James Horwitz
Professor of Physics
Chairman of Physics
Ph. D., University of California at San Diego

Research Interests: Space plasma physics, particularly of the terrestrial magnetosphere and ionosphere.
Research Group: Space Physics

Email: horwitz@uta.edu
Location: Room 108 SH, Room 332 CPB
Phone: 817-272-0991
 
 
Background

Professor of Physics and Chair, Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019.

Dr. Horwitz obtained the B. A. in Physics (Highest Honors) from the University of California in San Diego in 1970, and M. S. (1972) and Ph. D. (1976) degrees from the same institution. His Ph. D. dissertation title was ``Radar Measurements of Electric Fields in the High Latitude Ionosphere and Other Topics in Auroral Physics.'' Dr. Horwitz subsequently joined NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as an NAS/NRC Research Associate/Post-Doctoral Fellow, and two years later, became a Physics faculty member at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. He maintained an active research program there centered on the analysis of data on and modeling of ionospheric plasma transport into the magnetosphere. In addition to his duties in Physics, he served from 1986 to 2004 as Associate Director of the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR) at UAH. He was also the director of the Space Plasma Interactive Data Analysis and Simulation Laboratory (SPIDASL) computer facility within UAH/CSPAR.

Since becoming Chair of the Physics Department at The University of Texas at Arlington in November 2004, he has played major roles in such critical initiatives as the hiring of the new Planetarium Director and bringing the new Planetarium activities at UT Arlington into existence. He has established new departmental thrusts in space physics and nano-bio physics, has succeeded in the doubling of the numbers of graduate research assistantships in Physics, secured funding for the Computational Physics Cluster for simulation research, and oversaw the move of much of the department to the new 128,000 sq. ft. Chemistry and Physics building during early 2006.

Dr. Horwitz performs computer simulation and data analysis research in space physics, with a principal focus on auroral and polar ionospheric plasma generation, energization and transport into the terrestrial magnetosphere. Among his accomplishments are the development of the first steady-state and dynamic codes to join fluid-like treatment for collision-dominated plasma regions to kinetic treatment of non-collision-dominated plasma regions, with potential applications in multiple areas of scientific application. He is also currently a co-Investigator on the Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment (TIDE) on NASA’s POLAR spacecraft.

He has graduated 9 Ph. D.’s and 11 M.S. degree students. He has authored or co-authored over 140 refereed publications, has presented numerous invited talks, and has been awarded several million dollars of funding from NASA and NSF. He has been Associate Editor of Geophysical Research Letters, Space Physics and Aeronomy Section Editor for EOS, Space Physics Editor for Reviews of Geophysics, and Space Physics Representative for American Geophysical Union Book Board.

 

Selected Publications

Horwitz, J. L., C. W. Ho, H. D. Scarbro, G. R. Wilson, and T. E. Moore, Centrifugal acceleration of the polar wind, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 15051, 1994.

Horwitz, J. L., N. Singh, and J. L. Burch, editors, Cross-Scale Coupling in Space Plasmas, American Geophysical Union Monograph 93, Washington, D. C., 1995.

Horwitz, J. L., D. L. Gallagher, and W. K. Peterson, Editors, Geospace Mass and Energy Flow: Results from the ISTP Program, American Geophysical Union Monograph 104, Washington, D. C., 1998.

Horwitz, J. L., and S. Zalesak, Computer simulation of multiple scale processes in space plasmas, (1993-5 progress), Reviews of Radio Sci., p. 677, 1996.

Horwitz, J. L., and T. E. Moore, Four contemporary issues concerning ionospheric plasma flow to the magnetosphere, Space Sci. Rev., Vol. 80, 46, 1997.

Su, Y.-J, J. L. Horwitz, G. R. Wilson, P. G. Richards, D. G. Brown, and C. W. Ho, Self-consistent simulation of the photo-electron-driven polar wind from 120 km to 9 Re altitude, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 2279, 1998.

Wu, X.-Y., J. L. Horwitz, G. M. Estep, P. G. Richards, G. R. Wilson, and D. G. Brown, Dynamic Fluid-Kinetic(DyFK) modeling of the auroral plasma outflows driven by soft electron precipitation and transverse heating, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 17263, 1999.

Zeng, W., J. L. Horwitz, B. A. Stevenson, X.-Y. Wu, Y.-J. Su, P. D. Craven, F. J. Rich, T. E. Moore and J. Tu, Near-simultaneous POLAR and DMSP measurements of topside ionospheric field-aligned flows at high latitudes, J. Geophys. Res, 106, A12, 29,601, 2001.

Wu, X.-Y., J. L. Horwitz, and J. Tu, Dynamic Fluid Kinetic(DyFK) simulation of auroral ion transport: Synergistic effects of parallel potentials, transverse ion heating, and soft electron precipitation, J. Geophys. Res., 107, A10, 1283, doi:10.1029/2000JJA000190, 2002.

Tu, J. -N., J. L. Horwitz, P. Song, X. -Q. Huang, B. W. Reinisch, and P. G. Richards, Simulating plasmaspheric field-aligned density profiles measured with IMAGE/RPI: Effects of plasmasphere refilling and ion heating, J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 108, No. A1, 10.1029/2002JA009468, 2003.

Horwitz, J. L, D. L. Gallagher, J. Perez, R. Lieu, J. A. Miller, and R. Preece, Astrophysical Acceleration in Geospace and Beyond, EOS Trans, Vol. 84, No. 11, March 18, 2003.

Tu J.-N., J. L. Horwitz, P. A. Nsumei, P. Song, X.-Q. Huang, B. W. Reinisch, Simulation of polar cap field-aligned electron density profiles measured with the IMAGE radio plasma imager, J. Geophys. Res., 109, A07206, doi:10.1029/2003JA010310, 2004.

Zeng, W., J. L. Horwitz, P. D. Craven, F. J. Rich, and T. E. Moore, The O+ density trough at 5000 km altitude in the polar cap, J.Geophys. Res., Vol. 109, no. A3, DoI: 10.10.29/2003 JA010210, 2004.

Tu, J. -N., J. L. Horwitz, and T. E. Moore, Simulating the cleft ion fountain at Polar perigee altitudes, J. Atmos. Space Terr. Phys., 67, 265, 2005.

Fraser, B. J., J. L. Horwitz, J. A. Slavin, Z. C. Dent, and I. R. Mann, Heavy ion mass loading of the geomagnetic field near the plasmapause and ULF wave implications, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L04102, doi:10.1029/2004GL021315, 2005.
Zeng, W., J. L. Horwitz, and J.-N. Tu, Characteristic ion distributions in the dynamic auroral transition region, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A04201, doi:10.1029/2005JA011417, 2006.

Gallagher, D. L., J. L. Horwitz, J. D. Perez, R. D. Preece, and J. J. Quenby, Preface to Particle Acceleration in Astrophysical Plasmas: Geospace and Beyond, in Particle Acceleration in Astrophysical Plasmas: Geospace and Beyond, American Geophysical Union monograph, edited by D. L. Gallagher, J. L. Horwitz, J. D. Perez, R. D. Preece, and J. J. Quenby, Washington, D. C., 2005.

Gallagher, D. L., J. L. Horwitz, J. D. Perez, R. D. Preece, and J. J. Quenby, Introduction to Particle Acceleration in the Cosmos, in Particle Acceleration in Astrophysical Plasmas: Geospace and Beyond, American Geophysical Union monograph, edited by D. L. Gallagher, J. L. Horwitz, J. D. Perez, R. D. Preece, and J. J. Quenby, Washington, D. C., 2005.

Gallagher, D. L, J. L. Horwitz, J. Quenby, R. D. Preece, and J. Perez, Editors, Particle Acceleration in Astrophysical Plasmas: Geospace and Beyond, American Geophysical Union monograph, Washington, D. C., 2005.

 

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