Washington State University physics professor Philip Marston—an expert in physical acoustics, low-gravity fluid mechanics and light scattering—will present a free, public talk, “Decades of Acoustical, Optical, and Fluid Wave Physics with Students and Associates,” on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 4:10 p.m. in Webster Hall, room 17.
Marston’s talk is part of the WSU Department of Physics and Astronomy’s Distinguished Colloquium Series and its yearlong anniversary celebration, “100 Years of Education, Innovation, and Discovery.” A reception will follow the event.
On faculty since 1978, Marston will highlight many of the significant contributions to the field of physics by WSU researchers over the past four decades. He will also review the important work of physics alumnus Walter L. Bond (MS ’28) who is renowned for advancing the critical study of crystals and the development of a wide variety of essential scientific tools and devices, including lasers.
Marston’s current research in acoustics includes fundamental aspects of radiation and scattering of sound from elastic objects in water as well as investigations of novel processes for the interaction of sound with sound in modified fluids. He and his students and colleagues test theoretical predictions using indoor water tanks with 3,000- and 6,500-gallon capacities that make a wide range of acoustic measurements possible.
His other acoustics research involves the radiation pressure of high-amplitude sound and its applications to bubble and droplet dynamics and to the dynamics of fluids in low gravity. Marston was a co-principal investigator of a related bubble dynamics experiment flown on the USML-1 space shuttle flight in 1992. Additional investigations of fluid response to radiation pressure are ongoing, while his complementary work in optical and light-scattering research has provided insights to complicated acoustical scattering situations.
The talk will be available online after the event.
