Tag Archives: solitons

Solving a physics mystery: Those ‘solitons’ are really vortex rings

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 2014Scienceaurel bulgac, gabriel wlazłowski, hyak, kenneth roche, michael forbes, mushroom cloud, mysterious phenomenon, neutron stars, numerical simulation, physics mystery, solitons, solving, uw physicist, volcanic eruption, vortex rings

The same physics that gives tornadoes their ferocious stability lies at the heart of new University of Washington research, and could lead to a better understanding of nuclear dynamics in studying fission, superconductors and the workings of neutron stars.

The work seeks to clarify what Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers witnessed when in 2013 they named a mysterious phenomenon — an unusual long-lived wave traveling much more slowly than expected through a gas of cold atoms. They called this wave a “heavy soliton” and claimed it defied theoretical description. (more…)

Two Seemingly Unrelated Phenomena Share Surprising Link

By Guest PostOctober 14, 2011Sciencebreathing mechanics, Chile, coupled line of swinging pendulums, discrete packets of energy, dynamic phenomenon, elastic film, energy, enrique cerda, fraction the width of a human hair, haim diamant, ka yee lee, large scale motion, lungs, material deformation, microscopic air sacs, molecular linings, normal breathing, optical fibers, ordinary waves, phenomena, sine gordon equation, soliton motion, solitons, synthetic films, tel aviv university, telecommunications, thomas witten, university of santiago

A coupled line of swinging pendulums apparently has nothing in common with an elastic film that buckles and folds under compression while floating on a liquid, but scientists at the University of Chicago and Tel Aviv University have discovered a deep connection between the two phenomena.

Energy carried in ordinary waves, like those seen on the ocean near a beach, quickly disperses. But the energy in the coupled pendulums and in compressed elastic film concentrates into different kinds of waves, ones with discrete packets of energy called “solitons.” (more…)