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A Dartmouth College professor of physics and astronomy is among
the members of a joint Dartmouth-University of New Hampshire (UNH) team that
has been awarded a $1.7 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Barrett N. Rogers (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)
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Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Barrett N.
Rogers is among the grant's five principal participants. The grant will
support a new center that will develop theoretical and computer simulation
models for applications to controlled thermonuclear fusion and to the problems
of turbulence and heating in the sun's environment. Of the $1.7 million,
$545,000 will go directly to Dartmouth to support a research team Rogers will
lead.
To be called the Cluster for Integrated Computation and Analysis of
Reconnection and Turbulence, or CICART, the center will be headquartered at the
University of New Hampshire. Amitava Bhattacharjee, Paul Professor of Space
Science at the UNH Institute for the Study
of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS), will serve as CICART director.
"The main premise of CICART is that some fundamental aspects of physics
in fusion devices, smaller-scale laboratory experiments, and astrophysical
plasmas can be viewed from a common perspective, and progress in any one of
these interconnected fields is likely to lead to progress in others," says
Bhattacharjee.
The principal participants have been drawn from the communities of applied
mathematics, astrophysics, computational physics, fluid dynamics, and plasma
physics. Rogers's research interests are in theoretical and computational
plasma physics, which he explores through large-scale computer simulations. His
contributions to the project will be in the areas of magnetic reconnection,
which is the explosive release of the energy stored in plasma in magnetic
fields, and plasma turbulence.
CICART will foster collaborations between scientists at UNH, Dartmouth, and
two energy department laboratories. "I am delighted by the collaboration
between UNH and Dartmouth. This project will build on expertise at both
universities and will position New Hampshire well for future
opportunities," says Martin Wybourne, vice provost for research.
The proposal for CICART was ranked top in the nation in the competitive
award process at the DOE
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This
program supports basic research in a broad range of science and technology
disciplines within DOE.
EPSCoR enhances funding opportunities in states that historically have had
lower federal funding levels. Since New Hampshire became an EPSCoR state in
2004 more than $4.1 million has been awarded to support scientific
research.
The EPSCoR program in New Hampshire is served by a statewide committee
chaired by John Aber, vice president for research at UNH, and includes Wybourne
and Director of Technology Transfer Alla Kan, as well as other academic and
industry leaders, legislators, and state officials. "Our goal in the NH
EPSCoR program is to leverage these federal grants as a foundation for
technology-based economic development," Aber says.
By REBECCA BAILEY
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