Overview
Dr. Marina Romanova is a specialist in computational astrophysics. She is known for pioneering simulations of complex processes in astrophysics, such as the first three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of accretion onto a rotating star with a tilted dipole or more complex magnetic fields, which helped to understand the properties of funnel streams, hot spots and variability of young stars and other accreting magnetized stars, such as neutron stars and white dwarfs. She also discovered numerically the unstable regime of accretion in magnetized stars, which may help explain the stochastic light curves observed in many classical T Tauri stars. In recent years, she has been working on modeling planet-disk dynamics in protoplanetary systems.
Research Focus
• Interaction of planets with accretion disks. Three-dimensional (3D) numerical modeling of planetary orbits inside low-density cavities and at the disk-cavity boundaries.
• 3D MHD modeling of planet migration near magnetized rotating stars.
• 3D MHD modeling of accretion onto rotating magnetized stars with tilted magnetic and rotational axes. Accretion in stable and unstable regimes. Application to young stars, comparisons with TESS light curves. Applications to accreting neutron stars and white dwarfs.
• MHD simulations (2D and 3D) of outflows from the disk-magnetosphere boundary. Propeller regime. One-sided outflows from stars with complex fields.
Publications
• Romanova, M.M., Koldoba, A.V., Ustyugova, G.V., Lai, D., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2023, “Eccentricity growth of massive planets inside cavities of protoplanetary discs”, MNRAS, 523, 2832-2849
• Romanova, M.M., Koldoba, A.V., Ustyugova, G.V., Blinova, A.A., Lai, D., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2021, “3D MHD simulations of accretion on to stars with tilted magnetic and rotational axes”, MNRAS, 506, 372-384
• Espaillat, C.C., Robinson,C.E., Romanova, M.M., Thanathibodee, T., Wendeborn, J. et al. 2021, “Measuring the density structure of an accretion hot spot”, Nature, 597, 41-44
• Romanova, M.M., Lii, P.S., Koldoba, A.V., Ustyugova, G.V., Blinova, A.A., Lovelace, R.V.E., Kaltenegger, L. 2019, “3D simulations of planet trapping at disc-cavity boundaries” MNRAS, 485, 2666-2680
• Blinova, A.A., Romanova, M.M., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2016, “Boundary between stable and unstable regimes of accretion. Ordered and chaotic unstable regimes”, MNRAS, 459, 2354-2369
• Romanova, M.M., and Owocky, S. 2015, “Accretion, outflows, and winds of magnetized stars”, Space Sci. Reviews, 191, 339-389
• Lii, P.S, Romanova, M.M., Ustyugova, G.V., Koldoba, A.V., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2014, “Propeller-driven outflows from an MRI disc”, MNRAS, 441, 86-100
• Kurosawa, R., and Romanova, M.M. 2013, “Spectral variability of classical T Tauri stars accreting in an unstable regime”, MNRAS, 2673-2689
• Lovelace, R.V.E., and Romanova, M.M. 2014, “Rossby wave instability in astrophysical discs”, Fluid Dynamics Research, 46, #4, 12pp
• Romanova, M.M., Ustyugova, G.V., Koldoba, A.V., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2013, “Warps, bending and density waves excited by rotating magnetized stars: results of global 3D MHD simulations”, MNRAS, 430, 699-724
• Kulkarni, A., and Romanova, M.M. 2013, “Analytical hotspot shapes and magnetospheric radius from 3D simulations of magnetospheric accretion”, MNRAS, 433, 3048-3061
• Lovelace, R.V.E., Romanova, M.M., Ustyugova, G.V., and Koldoba, A.V. 2010, “One-sided outflows/jets from rotating stars with complex magnetic fields”, MNRAS, 408, 2083-2091
• Romanova, M.M., Ustyugova, G.V., Koldoba, A.V., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2009, “Launching of conical winds and axial jets from the disc-magnetosphere boundary: axisymmetric and 3D simulations”, MNRAS, 399, 1802-1828
• Long, M., Romanova, M.M., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2008, “Three-dimensional simulations of accretion to stars with complex magnetic fields”, MNRAS, 386, 1274-1284
• Romanova, M.M., Kulkarni, A., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2008, “Unstable disk accretion onto magnetized stars: first global three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations”, ApJ, 673, L171-L174
• Kulkarni, A., and Romanova, M.M. 2008, “Accretion to magnetized stars through the Rayleigh-Taylor instability: global 3D simulations”, MNRAS, 386, 673-687
• Romanova, M.M., Ustyugova, G.V., Koldoba, A.V., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2003, “Three-dimensional simulations of disk accretion to an inclined dipole. I. magnetospheric flows at different Θ”, ApJ, 595, 1009-1031
• Romanova, M.M., Ustyugova, G.V., Koldoba, A.V., and Lovelace, R.V.E. 2002, “Magnetohydrodynamic simulations of disk-magnetized star interactions in the quiescent regime: funnel flows and angular momentum transport”, ApJ, 578, 420-438
In the news
Numerical Investigation of Young Stars, NASA High-End Computing Program
What Can A Young Star Teach Us About Birth of Our Planet, Sun, and Solar System?, Eurasia Review
Stellar Switch: Sun not alone in making magnetic flip-flops, Science News