Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2006 APS April Meeting
Saturday–Tuesday, April 22–25, 2006; Dallas, TX
Session O1: Plenary Session II |
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Sponsoring Units: APS Chair: William Carithers, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Room: Hyatt Regency Dallas Landmark A |
Monday, April 24, 2006 8:30AM - 9:06AM |
O1.00001: Highlights of Neutrinos in Cosmology Invited Speaker: Neutrinos play unique roles in many epochs of the Universe's evolution. Important information can be gleaned from neutrino evolution during the big bang nucleosynthesis era, while at later times neutrinos have a significant impact on the cosmic microwave background and large scale structure power spectra. For example, cosmological data now place the tightest constraints on neutrino mass, though there is scope to evade these limits if the physics of the neutrino sector is non-standard. We outline the wealth of information that can be revealed by studying the sea of relic neutrinos. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 24, 2006 9:06AM - 9:42AM |
O1.00002: Plasma Turbulence in Astrophysics and in the Laboratory Invited Speaker: Turbulence plays a critical role in plasma systems ranging from laboratory fusion experiments to astrophysics. In nearly collisionless systems, modeling this turbulence is challenging because of the kinetic nature of the dominant dissipation processes and because of the strong nonlinear interactions that control the dynamics. On the other hand, the range of spatio-temporal scales that must be simultaneously resolved is not as large as in neutral fluid turbulence. A new class of ``gyrokinetic'' codes developed for fusion are facilitating the exploration of plasma turbulence across a broad range of problems. In fusion applications, fluctuations driven by local pressure gradients cause energy and momentum to leak from the magnetic containers shielding hot plasma from the cold surrounding surfaces. A major surprise from the models is that transport may be dominated by self-generated, small-scale streams that convect the high temperature extended distances across the confining magnetic field. Experiments are now being carried out to search for these streams. In astrophysics an important issue is how large-scale turbulent energy is absorbed as it cascades to small spatial scales. Whether the energy is dumped into electrons or ions in accretion flows and other applications impacts both the dynamics of the system and our ability to interpret observations through measurement of radiation from distant sites throughout the universe. Results from the first self-consistent calculations of the collisionless absorption of turbulent energy cascades for astrophysical applications will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 24, 2006 9:42AM - 10:18AM |
O1.00003: Bringing Hearing to the Deaf--Cochlear Implants: a Technical and Personal Account Invited Speaker: Cochlear implants are the first device to successfully restore neural function. They have instigated a popular but controversial revolution in the treatment of deafness, and they serve as a model for research in neuroscience and biomedical engineering. In this talk the physiology of natural hearing will be reviewed from the perspective of a physicist, and the function of cochlear implants will be described in the context of historical treatments, electrical engineering, psychophysics, clinical evaluation of efficacy and personal experience. The social implications of cochlear implantation and the future outlook for auditory prostheses will also be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
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