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Noted plasma physicist Dr. Mike Brown of Swarthmore College will speak on Friday, May 9th during 6a (3:30-4:30 pm) in Olin 141.
Cookies and coffee will be served in the 2nd Olin lounge immediately after the presentation.
Is there a Universal Character to Plasma Turbulence?
Turbulent fluctuations in conventional fluids like air or water seem to have a universal statistical character. Measurements of statistical turbulence metrics in a wind tunnel or in a tidal basin seem to be the same. It is not known whether plasma turbulence is universal. The Sun launches a turbulent stream of high velocity plasma with imbedded magnetic fields into interplanetary space at about 400 km/s. Properties of this solar wind have been studied for decades and much is known about fluctuations in the velocity, density, and magnetic field. In this talk, I’ll discuss measurements in a high velocity plasma wind tunnel at Swarthmore College. The SSX MHD wind tunnel features flow speeds up to 100 km/s, magnetic field of 0.5 T, and temperatures of nearly a million Kelvin. Comparisons to measurements from the solar wind will be made.
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Random Wok
Seniors:
The Physics and Astronomy department will hold it’s annual Random Wok dinner to celebrate your four years at Carleton.
Bring your favorite stir-fry ingredient and come for an evening of food and conversation. You should have gotten an invitation
in campus mail! Please reply to Cindy (cblaha) to RSVP.