02/05/2024
By Joanne Gagnon-Ketchen

Physics Colloquium, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 at 4 p.m. in Olsen 102.

Jeffrey S. Oishi of Bates College will give a talk on "Fluid Approaches to the Physics of Fluids Abstract."

Abstract:
Fluid mechanics is characterized by strongly non-linear, far-from-equilibrium systems, particularly in geophysical problems, clean energy generation, and the origin and evolution of the Solar magnetic field. Predictive understanding of these systems remains an unmet challenge due to the massive number of mutually interacting scales as in turbulence, the complex interplay between numerous physical forces as in biological active matter, or both as in the transport of heat in magnetically confined fusion reactors. I will illustrate our recent work toward both computational tools and theoretical understanding of these systems, emphasizing the flexible numerical techniques we have developed over the last decade and highlighting surprising and promising connections with quantum physics that offer a new perspective on these problems.

Bio:
Jeffrey Oishi received his B.S. from Columbia University in 2000 and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 2007. This was followed by postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley and Stanford. He joined Bates College in 2016 as an Assistant Professor of Physics and became Associate Professor in 2021. He has been the Chair of the Physics Department at Bates since 2023. He has received research grants from the Department of Energy and NASA. Jeff develops numerical algorithms and software to model partial differential equations (PDEs). He uses them to study complicated non-linear flows and turbulence in fluids and plasmas. This involves great students, a lot of coffee, a fair amount of supercomputer time, and a network of great friends and collaborators around the world to work with.