Wulff, Paula

Research Interests:
I am a physicist, specialising in planetary sciences, in particular the interiors of giant planets. My focus has been on the zonal flows that dominate the surface dynamics of both Jupiter and Saturn. I have approached the exploration of these phenomena both using gravity data from in-situ measurements, as well as performing numerical simulations to model them. The latter also involves investigating how these winds influence the magnetic field and making inferences with regards to the Gas Giants' interior structures.

Education and Employment:

2023 – 2024: Postdoctoral Researcher at MPS
2020 – 2023: Ph.D. in Physics in the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS), thesis: "Numerical Modelling of Zonal Winds on Gas Giants", Supervisors: Ulrich Christensen, Johannes Wicht, Wieland Dietrich and Andreas Tilgner, Univ. of Göttingen, Germany
2017 – 2020: M.Sc. in Physics, thesis: "Zonal Wind-induced Gravity Anomalies", Univ. of Göttingen, Germany
2014 – 2017: BA in Natural Sciences, specializing in physics, University of Cambridge, UK
2007 – 2014: Belvedere Academy, High School, Liverpool, UK

Selected Publications:

(1) P. Wulff, U.R. Christensen, W. Dietrich, and J. Wicht, The Effects of a Stably Stratified Region with radially varying Electrical Conductivity on the Formation of Zonal Winds on Gas Planets. Submitted (2023).

(2) V.G.A. Böning, P. Wulff, W. Dietrich, J. Wicht, and U.R. Christensen, Direct driving of simulated planetary jets by upscale energy transfer, A&A, 670, A15. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202244278 (2023)

(3) P. Wulff, W. Dietrich, U.R. Christensen, and J. Wicht, Zonal winds in the gas planets driven by convection above a stably stratified layer, MNRAS, Volume 517, Issue 4, Pages 5584–5593, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac3045 (2022)

(4) W. Dietrich, P. Wulff, J. Wicht, and U.R. Christensen, Linking zonal winds and gravity – II. Explaining the equatorially antisymmetric gravity moments of Jupiter, MNRAS, Volume 505, Issue 3, Pages 3177–3191, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1566 (2021)

(5) J. Wicht, W. Dietrich, P. Wulff, and U.R. Christensen, Linking zonal winds and gravity: the relative importance of dynamic self‑gravity, MNRAS, Volume 492, Issue 3, Pages 3364–3374, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa036 (2020)