Brian P. Anderson
The Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Series presents Brian P. Anderson of the University of Arizona on “Turbulent Times in Quantum Physics” on Friday, April 3, at 4:10 p.m. in Walter 245.
Abstract: Turbulence is found throughout nature, but a full understanding of the nature of turbulent flows in classical fluids remains stubbornly out of reach. Turbulence has also long been studied in superfluid helium, where quantum mechanics and quantized vortices enable flow dynamics to be characterized through means not found in classical physics, yet the primary challenges of turbulence are still unsolved. Research is now turning to a new corner of the turbulence puzzle: two-‐dimensional quantum turbulence, with particular focus on atomic Bose-‐Einstein condensates (BECs). Within this field, new prospects are emerging for understanding the relationships between elements of turbulence, such as energy spectra, microscopic fluid dynamics, and the structure of vortices, and for quantitatively linking turbulence phenomena with the mathematical structure of quantum mechanics. Flow characteristics analogous to those of 2D classical turbulence, as well as others unique to 2D quantum fluids, are now being explored. In this talk I will describe some of these new experimental studies in progress at the University of Arizona, and theoretical studies at the University of Otago and other collaborating institutions, in order to convey the notion that BECs are proving to be exciting and promising tools for examining quantum turbulence and the links between turbulence in the quantum and classical worlds.
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