Dr Patrick Antolin

I am an Associate Professor at Northumbria University. My PhDs are in Solar Physics from Kyoto University (2009, focus on numerical simulations) and the University of Oslo (2012, focus on solar observations). My fields of expertise are magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), waves and instabilities. My research focuses on solar atmospheric phenomena and in particular:

• Coronal heating by MHD waves and associated dynamic instabilities
• Coronal cooling processes (coronal rain and prominences), thermal instabilities and non-equilibrium.

I an expert in numerical modelling (incl. parallel computing), forward modelling (the synthesis of observational diagnostics from numerical simulations) and solar observations (with both, space-based and ground-based observatories).

Career trajectory

I have a double BSc from Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), in Mathematics (2003) and Physics (2004). I obtained a scholarship from the Japanese government (Mombukagakusho) for postgraduate studies in Japan, which I carried out at Kyoto University under the supervision of Prof. Kazunari Shibata (2004 - 2009). I obtained my MSc in 2006 and PhD in 2009 (thesis title: “Predicting observational signatures of coronal heating by Alfvén waves and nanoflares”).

In parallel with my Japanese PhD I started a collaboration with the University of Oslo (at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics), which led to a second PhD under the supervision of Prof. Mats Carlsson (2012, thesis title: “Implications for coronal heating and magnetic field topology from coronal rain observations”).

My post-doc / PI experience, in chronological order is as follows:

• CmPA @ KU Leuven (Belgium; Supervisor: Tom Van Doorsselaere), 11/2011 - 04/2013
• JSPS Postdoctoral research Fellow (PI) at Dept of Earth and Planetary Sciences @ University of Tokyo (Host Professor: Takaaki Yokoyama), 04/2013 - 07/2013
• Hinode Science Center @ NAOJ (Japan; Supervisor: Dr. Yukio Katsukawa), 09/2013 - 12/2015
• School of Mathematics and Statistics @ University of St Andrews (Scotland, UK; Supervisor: Prof. Ineke De Moortel), 01/2016 - 05/2018
• STFC ER Fellow, University of St Andrews, 06/2018 - 07/2019
• STFC ER Fellow and proleptic senior lecturer, Northumbria University, 08/2019 - 08/2022
• STFC ER Fellow and Assistant Professor, Northumbria University, 09/2022 - 05/2023
• Associate Professor, Northumbria University, 09/2023 - present

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Compression, Impact and Hot Rebound Flows from Coronal Rain Downflows, Wachira, J., Antolin, P. 1 Apr 2026, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• DeepFilter: A machine learning technique for removing the hot AIA 304 Å channel component for the analysis of coronal rain, McMullan, L., Antolin, P., Kleint, L., Panos, B. Mar 2026, In: Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Disambiguation of Cool and Hot Emission in SDO/AIA Channels and IRIS/Slit-Jaw Imager, Antolin, P., Auchère, F., De Pontieu, B., Soubrié, E. 19 May 2026, In: Solar Physics
• Extreme-ultraviolet Synthesis of Nanojet-like Ejections due to Coalescing Flux Ropes, Sen, S., Sukarmadji, A., Nóbrega-Siverio, D., Moreno-Insertis, F., Martínez-Sykora, J., Antolin, P. 30 Jan 2026, In: Astrophysical Journal Letters
• Radiative hydrodynamic simulations of first ionization potential fractionation in solar flares, Reep, J., Benavitz, L., To, A., Brooks, D., Laming, J., Antolin, P., Long, D., Baker, D. 2 Jul 2026, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
• Do Flares Impact Neighboring Quiescent Coronal Rain?, Şahin, S., Antolin, P. 12 Nov 2025, In: Solar Physics
• Non-equilibrium thermodynamics in the solar atmosphere and interior, Belov, S., Kolotkov, D., Antolin, P., Broomhall, A. 1 Apr 2025, In: Astronomy and Geophysics
• Reconnection nanojets associated with a prominence eruption observed with Solar Orbiter/EUI-HRI, Wallace, T., Antolin, P. 1 Dec 2025, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Role of magnetic shear distribution in the formation of eruptive flux ropes, Sen, S., Nayak, S., Antolin, P. Nov 2025, In: Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Space-Weather Effects on Critical Infrastructure on Earth, Wedemeyer, S., Johnsen, M., Antolin, P., Rae, J., Poedts, S. 22 Dec 2025, In: Europhysics News

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Invited talk: The Delicate Coronal Mass Limit 2021
• Examination: Litentiate thesis - S. Sollerman 2021
• Organising a conference, workshop, ...: COSPAR 2021 session D2.3/E3.3 2021
• Invited talk: Invited talk "On the lookout for TWIKH rolls in the solar atmosphere with the help of forward modelling" 2020
• Membership of board: National Science Foundation (US) (External organisation) 2020
• Membership of committee: Solar Orbiter/EUI Consortium (External organisation) 2020
• Examination: PhD Jury - Gabriel Pelouze 2019
• Examination: PhD Jury - K. Karampelas 2019
• Organising a conference, workshop, ...: COSPAR 2018 D2.2/E3.2 Session 2018
• Other: The Cool Alter-Ego of the Hot Solar Corona 2018

• Luke McMullan Machine Learning Approach to the Detection of Cool Material in the Solar Corona Start Date: 19/09/2022 End Date: 17/10/2025
• Luke McMullan ??THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ?MACHINE LEARNING BASED ?IMAGING ENHANCEMENT TOOL ?AND ITS APPLICATION TO ?LARGE-SCALE STATISTICAL ?ANALYSES OF COOL MATERIAL ?WITHIN THE SOLAR CORONA? Start Date: 19/09/2022
• Samuel Hor Liquid sunshine - Modelling of coronal rain in the quiescent and flaring solar corona Start Date: 01/10/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025
• Samuel Hor Liquid sunshine - Modelling of coronal rain in the quiescent and flaring solar corona Start Date: 01/10/2024

Physics PhD June 30 2012

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Webpage on Northumbria's Solar Physics Group