PhD projects in Physics and Chemistry
Below are some examples of PhD projects in physics and chemistry. Alternative projects might be formulated following discussions with individual staff members, just contact the staff member or PhD admissions tutor Dr Gianne Derks.
Granular matter (Supervisor: Dr Anne Skeldon)
The equations that govern the motion of fluids are well-established. Less well understood is the motion of particulate materials, such as sand, soil or powders: sometimes these flow like fluids--you can pour gravel out of a bucket; and sometimes they behave like a solid--you can make a castle out of sand but not out of water. This project is joint with Prof Ugur Tuzun in Chemical and Process Engineering at Surrey to develop data analysis techniques/understand the physics of granular media.
Faraday waves (Supervisor: Dr Anne Skeldon)
Patterns can be made to form on the surface of a container of fluid by shaking the container up and down. The shaking has to be at the right frequency and right amplitude for any patterns to form--if you move a container of fluid up and down very slowly then the surface of the fluid will remain flat. There are a wealth of experimental results showing a variety of different possible patterns. On the theoretical front, arguments based on symmetries and the way different patterns interact has led to some knowledge of the mechanisms that cause particular patterns to become dominant. Although these have been tested on mathematical models describing the fluid, there are still significant gaps in our understanding. The aim of this project is to investigate further the theory underlying pattern selection in the Faraday and related problems. This will require using a variety of different dynamical systems techniques both theoretical and computational.
Soliton Switching in Fibres (Supervisor: Dr Gianne Derks)
For the optical transmission of data across a cable, one can use two (or more) coupled fibre cables. Experiments have shown that if a certain type of signal is put at one end of the cable, it will go to the other end of this cable and hardly anything happens in the other cable. However, if one puts other types of signals on the cable, the signal will switch to the other cable. This gives a convenient way of sending data consisting of zeros and ones. In this project we will aim for a better understanding of this experimentally observed process by investigating the family of soliton-like solutions, especially issues like existence, stability, bifurcations and invariant manifolds will be investigated.
Patterns in Surface Chemistry (Supervisor: Dr Rebecca Hoyle)
Regular patterns arise naturally in many physical, chemical and
biological systems - from hexagonal convection cells on the surface of
the sun to stripes on a zebra's back. Constantly changing irregular
patterns of carbon monoxide (CO) and oxygen are seen during CO
oxidation on platinum crystals in the [100] orientation. Recently a
reaction-diffusion model is developed to reproduce this pattern
formation and created numerical simulations that show patterns made up
of moving CO and oxygen fronts. Possible PhD projects in this area
include: extending the model to include the formation of subsurface
oxygen at higher pressures or developing a similar model for the NO +
NH3 reaction on Pt{100}. These interdisciplinary projects are great
opportunities for Maths graduates to apply their skills in a new area,
or for Chemistry graduates with good maths and computing skills to
move into theory.
Molecular Motors (Supervisor: Dr Rebecca Hoyle)
Molecular motors are proteins that transform chemical energy into
mechanical work on a molecular level, generating forces and leading
to motion. We are studying myosin V, a motor involved in intracellular
transport in animal cells. It has two heads that bind to an actin filament
and a long neck that attaches to its cargo, such as vesicles and
organelles. The myosin molecule walks hand-over-hand along the actin
track via the coordinated binding and release of its heads. We have used
energetics to model the interaction of external load and intramolecular
strain with the ATP hydrolysis cycle that drives the stepping action,
and performed a detailed quantitative fit to experimental data.
Possible PhD projects include: applying the same methodology to a variety
of other molecular motors to determine how well the established models
compare with experimental data, and how the evolved physical characteristics
of the motors relate to their biological function. This is interdisciplinary
work in an exciting and fast-moving area of biophysics. An enthusiasm
for learning about biophysics and communicating with experimentalists
is essential. This project would suit a graduate in Applied Maths or
Physics, or possibly a Biology graduate with strong quantitative skills.
Programming skills are needed to adapt existing codes.
