Multimedia Gallery
Vibrated Rods
Vibrated Rods
These copper rods, etched in the shape of rolling pins, are confined to a horizontal plane. The system is vibrated in the vertical direction, causing the rods to align locally, and then to move in swarming motions. These large-scale, coherent motions lead to giant fluctuations in the number of rods in any given region of space.
This research was performed by the Menon Group in the lab of associate professor Narayanan Menon, in the condensed matter physics area of the physics department at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The group performs experimental work in nonequilibrium statistical physics, primarily on soft-condensed matter systems. This research was supported by National Science Foundation grant DMR 06-06216. (Date of Image: 2006)
Credit: V. Narayan, S. Ramaswamy, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; N. Menon, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
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