Langmuir circulations are circulatory motions or rolls that occur in open bodies of water that are subjected to winds strong enough to cause surface waves. The rolls align roughly with the wind and vary in width from a few millimeters to over a kilometer. Since their role at the air-sea interface is to mix nutrients and help absorb atmospheric gases, it is crucial that they be credibly represented on global change models. Of particular interest therefore are instability mechanisms that give rise to such circulations and low order dynamical models that capture their dynamics. In this seminar I will outline current attempts to deduce such mechanisms and dynamical models, and show how their predictions compare with ocean data.
I will present a pictorial interpretation of the tensor
algebra
of vectors, k-forms, and metrics. I will show
some computer-generated
visualizations of these tensors. Physical examples
are taken from
mechanics, electrodynamics, and relativity.
Bryan Bichsel
[National Institutes of Standards
& Technology, Electron and Optical Physics Division].
Brian worked with the X-ray Conversion Microscope on the Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility. The concepts and details of how the microscope works were studied. X-rays from the synchrotron are converted into electrons using a cathode consisting of the object that is to be viewed and a Cesium Iodine layer. These electrons are then magnified by sending them through three different potentials, creating a magnified image of the object on a phosphor screen.
Ram Calaga
[University of Tennessee, High
Energy Physics Group].
Ram participated in running simulations for the B-Meson Physics experiment (BTev - FermiLab Tevatron) to determine CP Violation, Rare Decays & Mixing in Beauty and Charm decays. The particle decay simulations were conducted to determine the optimal design for the Forward Tracker (determines the four-vector momentums of particles generated in proton-antiproton beam collision in the Tevatron) of the BTev detector.
Kevin Koch
[University of Washington, Seattle,
Atomic Physics Division].
Kevin worked in the atomic physics group with parity violation experiments on trapped Ba+ ions. Parity violation manifests itself in physical processes which prefer one 'handedness" over another. A 2 micron laser system was to be implemented in the setup for the observation of the parity violating transition. The modal structure of this laser through a Fabry-Perot cavity was analyzed and improved using a combination of mode-matching optics and optical isolation techniques.
Beth Lusczek
[University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Sloan Digital Sky Survey Group].
Beth participated in writing computer programs in IDL to find active galactic nuclei (AGN). These programs were used to run matches between four astronomical surveys and also to make spectral energy distribution plots for the matched objects. These plots are important in finding AGN since the objects often have very characteristic spectral energy distributions.
Darnell Powers
[SOARS].
Darnell participated in the SOARS Program (Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science). The title of his research was: The impact of thermodynamic parameters on the distribution of chemical species in deep convection clouds. During the summer he used a fully compressible 3D nonhydrostatic cloud model to study the impact of thermodynamic parameters on the distribution of CO, O$_3$, and NO$_x$ in deep convection clouds.
Mitchell Soderberg
[University of Oklahoma, Condensed
Matter Physics Group].
Mitch did research studying the effects of substrate
growth temperature on crystal roughness for crystals grown by molecular
beam epitaxy. Determining the optimum growth conditions for BaF2
on Silicon Wafers involved the use of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and
X-Ray diffraction. After determining optimum growth conditions, these crystals
will be used to manufacture infrared lasers.