Talk by John Bush (AM Colloquium)

John Bush - From MIT - Hydrodynamic quantum analogs

Hydrodynamic quantum analogs

In 2005, Yves Couder and Emmanuel Fort discovered that droplets walking on a vibrating fluid bath exhibit several features previously thought to be exclusive to the microscopic, quantum realm. These walking droplets propel themselves by virtue of a resonant interaction with their own wave field, and represent the first macroscopic realization of a pilot-wave system of the form proposed for microscopic quantum dynamics by Louis de Broglie in the 1920s. New experimental and theoretical results allow us to rationalize the emergence of quantum-like behavior in this hydrodynamic pilot-wave system in a number of settings, and explore its potential and limitations as a quantum analog. 

Biographical Sketch

John Bush is a Professor of Applied Mathematics at MIT. Having completed his BSc in Physics at University of Toronto, he went on to Harvard for his PhD in Geophysics, then the University of Cambridge for postdoctoral research at DAMTP. He joined the faculty of MIT in 1998, was tenured in 2004 and is now the Director of the Applied Mathematics Laboratory. His research began in geophysics, but  then shifted towards surface-tension-driven phenomena and their applications in biology. For the past decade, his research has been focused on hydrodynamic quantum analogs.