In this talk I will highlight research work done for analysis and visualization of dynamical and turbulent systems. In the first part of my talk I will look at advection - reaction - diffusion systems and how they can be used for visualizing flow fields. Our main focus in this research was to develop a glyph that could be used to represent multivariate data in flow fields. While we were successful in our efforts we unexpectedly found that our techniques had greater application in developmental biology and pattern formation. This was an unexpected turn that lead us to ask the proverbial question "How does a leopard get its spots?"
The second part of my talk will look at tools developed to understand the topology of magnetic fields in magnetically confined fusion which are a Hamiltonian system. Of primary concern is the break down of stable magnetic surfaces into smaller magnetic island chains which leads to a loss of confinement. At the same time we recently learned such analysis is applicable to oceanographers who are trying to understand similar phenomena, chaotic advection. I will highlight two techniques one based finding resonances in the fieldlines as they precess about the surfaces they lay on and another which examines their divergence. The finial part of my talk I will highlight techniques developed for visualizing turbulent systems via the construction of various type of surfaces.
Allen R. Sanderson has been a research scientist at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute University of Utah since 2001 were he conducts research into analysis and visualization of large data simulations. He works with a variety of science applications ranging from plasma physics to medical imaging. He obtained his Ph.D and M.E. from the University of Utah in Computer Science and Bioengineering and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ State University. He has worked in both industry and academia and was a Chateaubriand Fellow.