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Daniel Harris, Applied Mathematics Colloquium
January 26, 2018 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Speaker: Daniel Harris, Brown University
Title: Follow the bouncing ball
Abstract: Fluid droplets may bounce indefinitely on vibrating fluid bath, exhibiting complex vertical dynamics that depend sensitively on the experimental parameters. At each impact with the underlying bath, the droplet deforms the free surface, generating waves at the interface. In certain parameter regimes, the droplets can interact with such waves and progress horizontally across the surface. This hydrodynamic system represents a macroscopic wave-particle duality, and has been shown to exhibit behaviors reminiscent of some quantum systems.
Motivated by this rich dynamical system, I will discuss two related topics of ongoing research: the dynamics of a bouncing ball on a vibrating fixed topography and millimetric superhydrophobic spheres impacting a quiescent water bath. Future work will also be discussed, with focus on engineering applications of vibrated materials and the motion of particles at interfaces.
Tea at 3:30 in 330 Phillips Hall.