PCHEM Seminar – Dr. Boris Maiorov (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
About the event
Speaker: Boris Maiorov (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Host: Dr. Xiaofeng Guo (Chemistry) and Dr. Tom Asaki (Math)
Title: Listening to materials: How to learn physics using ‘tuning forks’
Abstract:
Resonances are ubiquitous to many aspects of our everyday life and the key to a number of technological and scientific advances. Resonances can be used to make music or can be disastrous if left unchecked, as in the famous Takoma Narrows Bridge collapse. A familiar (and less harmful) example of resonances are tuning forks, used to determine a pure musical tone (fixed pitch). The resonance frequency is set by the fork’s length and elastic properties of the material it is made of. Thus, pitch can be set by either changes the size or the material it is made of.
In this talk I will present the basis of resonances and several examples where resonances play crucial role. I will then discuss elastic properties of diverse materials and their relevance. I will finalize by showing how Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy can be used to determine the elastic properties with unmatched accuracy and precision. From the elastic behavior, we can deduce the interactions between the atoms in those materials. Using the anisotropic response, we can also determine the microstructural texture (preferential alignment of grains) of materials and the presence of different types of defects.
Bio:
Dr. Maiorov graduated (B.S., M.S. and PhD) from the Instituto Balseiro (Bariloche, Argentina) in 1997 and 2003 respectively. In 2003, he joined Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as a post-doc and became staff member in 2005. He has contributed significantly to the understanding of superconductors basic and applied properties throughout his career, as well as on understanding elastic properties in a myriad of materials.
Boris’ research in superconductivity is focused on material defects and vortex physics, modeling strongly interacting systems and improving the pinning properties of high temperature superconductors. Dr. Maiorov uses and develops unique techniques to take advantage of the highest non-destructive magnetic fields in the world available at the Pulsed-field facility of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory located at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Dr. Maiorov is the author/coauthor more than 140 peer-reviewed papers with more than 8000 citations (h = 43), 1 patent and several books’ chapters. He has given numerous international invited talks and colloquia during his career.
He is a Senior Member of IEEE and member of the Board of the Applied Superconductivity Educational Foundation. In his free time, he plays euphonium, trumpet and French Horn in the Los Alamos Community Winds Band, Santa Fe Community Orchestra and similar organizations.