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Sylke Boyd, PhD Assistant
Professor, Physics SB’s Work schedule for Spring semester
2008 UMM Student Research in Physics |
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Current Courses:
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Sylke is on research leave in fall 2008 |
Courses for
Summer 2009:
Alles
klommt vom Bergwerk her – A journey to the roots of modern science (3-weeks
abroad program)
Courses taught
recently:
Phys1101 General Physics 1 (spring
2008), Computer Modeling of Materials (spring
2008)
Electromagnetism, (fall
2007), Physics of Weather (fall 2007) , Phys3501 Statistical
Physics (spring 2007), Classical
Mechanics (Fall 2006), FYS Bottomdwellers in an ocean of air
(Fall 2006), Physics of Sound
and Music (Fall 2005)
Research
Group:
Anna Schliep: Dislocations in RDX
(GIA, active)
Sound
generation by wind in Strings (UROP, finished, presented as poster at MAAPT
Fall meeting)
Sam Geller: Monte Carlo
Simulations of Vacancies in a
Matt Gravelle: Point defects in
RDX (UROP and GIA, finished, presented posters at URS and CCTCC, coauthor of publication)
If you are interested in any way to collaborate
in a research project please do not hesitate to stop by or drop a line by
e-mail.
Research
Interests:
I am interested in computer modeling of materials
on an atomic or molecular level. The tools I am using are molecular dynamics
and
Current
Projects:
- Computer Model of interfaces under normal and shear stress.
- Defects in RDX:
Currently my work focuses on point defects in the
molecular solid RDX. This is a powerful explosive with the caveat of a high
sensitivity. Defects in the crystalline lattice provide places at which
detonations seem to originate due to their energetically predisposed position.
The crystals are produced from solution, and often defects are incorporated
during the crystal growth. Limiting the amount of defects can help lower the
sensitivity, hence our model studies how the defects are formed, which geometry
they have, how easily they heal or diffuse, and how growth conditions influence
their concentration. The project originates from an initiative from Lawrence
Livermore National Lab, trying to solve the problem of stockpile of weapons
from the cold-war era. The weapons are aging, and need to be dealt with. Rather
than experiment with these stockpiles, a computational initiative has been
started to model the materials and their behavior, hence helping to decide the
best course of action. Take a look at the vibrational
properties of the RDX molecule.
Recent
publications and presentations:
S.
Boyd, K. J. Boyd, Vibrational properties
of RDX, presented as poster at the 16th Conference on
Current Trends in Computational Chemnistry (CCTCC) in
S.
Boyd, M. Gravelle, Computer
Simulations Of Point Defects In Crystalline RDX, presented as
poster at the 2006 Gordon Research Conference on Energetic Materials in
Sylke Boyd, Matthew Gravelle, and Peter Politzer, Nonreactive
molecular dynamics force field for crystalline hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5
triazine, , J. Chem. Phys. 124, 104508 (2006).
M. Gravelle, S. Boyd, A computer
study of point defects in the RDX crystal, presented as poster at
the 14th Conference on Current Trends in Computational Chemistry
(CCTCC) in
Outreach
activities:
Super Saturday Science: a science experience for girls 5-8th
grade (activity: Air pressure)
Plan-It-Green: Activity “Are greenhouse gases really
green?”
Miscellaneous stuff:
My take on creativity
Just in case you were wondering what a Nischel is…
Intersection of Math,
physics and computer: Ave verum corpus
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Mathematica
notebook that produced it
Personal stuff
Any views and opinions in this page have not been reviewed
by a campus committee.
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