Workshop Support for "Particulate Matter: Does Dimensionality Matter?"; Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems; Dresden, Germany

研讨会支持“颗粒物质：维度重要吗？”；

• 批准号: 1019151
• 负责人: Karen Daniels
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-06-01 至 2011-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1019151&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Workshop; Support; Particulate; Matter; Does

The story Flatland helped 19th century readers understand the metaphorical role of the fourth dimension. Higher dimensions now help 21st century scientists to better understand our comparatively low-dimensional world. The pattern of coins packed on a tabletop or oranges piled on a grocer's stand have both similarities and differences. By examining similar problems in dimensions higher than two or three, we are able to obtain additional points of comparison. Similarly, progress in understanding dense particulate matter such as colloids, granular materials, glasses, or emulsions is starting to arise from comparing and contrasting the behavior of related phenomena in different spatial dimensions. A variety of experimental and theoretical techniques allow for this exploration, but interestingly, different approaches sometimes lead to differing answers as to how dimensionality influences a phenomenon. Some even argue that dimension plays little role on their subfield. Can we make sense of this conundrum? Since progress is taking place on many continents and in different fields (mathematics, engineering, and basic sciences), there is a need to bring researchers together for an extended and focused period of time to sketch the road ahead and to capture the momentum created by these often independent developments. This grant will help support the travel of graduate students and postdoctoral trainees from the US to a workshop addressing questions of dimensionality in dense particulate matter to be held in Dresden, Germany. These junior researchers will be enabled to present talks and posters to the international audience of experts in the various sub-fields.The participation of students and postdoctoral fellows in international workshops is key to training an internationally competitive workforce in this rapidly developing field for which university coursework does not yet exist. The workshop has two features that are aimed at encouraging junior researchers to build future collaborations with the international community: the pairing of formal talks with organized discussions, and the allotment of time for small-group interactions.

《平地》这个故事帮助 19 世纪的读者理解了第四维度的隐喻作用。 现在，更高的维度可以帮助 21 世纪的科学家更好地了解我们相对低维度的世界。 桌面上堆放的硬币或杂货店摊上堆放的橙子的图案既有相似之处，也有不同之处。通过在高于二或三的维度上检查类似问题，我们能够获得额外的比较点。 同样，通过比较和对比不同空间维度中相关现象的行为，人们开始在理解致密颗粒物质（例如胶体、颗粒材料、玻璃或乳液）方面取得进展。 各种实验和理论技术允许这种探索，但有趣的是，不同的方法有时会导致关于维度如何影响现象的不同答案。 有些人甚至认为维度在他们的子领域中发挥的作用很小。 我们能理解这个难题吗？ 由于许多大陆和不同领域（数学、工程和基础科学）都在取得进展，因此有必要将研究人员聚集在一起，在较长的时间内集中精力，勾勒出前进的道路，并抓住所创造的动力。这些往往是独立的发展。 这笔赠款将帮助支持研究生和博士后学员从美国前往在德国德累斯顿举办的研讨会，讨论致密颗粒物的维数问题。 这些初级研究人员将能够向各个子领域的国际专家展示演讲和海报。学生和博士后研究员参加国际研讨会是在这个快速发展的领域培养具有国际竞争力的劳动力的关键，而大学正是为此而发展的。课程作业尚不存在。 该研讨会有两个特点，旨在鼓励初级研究人员与国际社会建立未来的合作：将正式会谈与有组织的讨论相结合，以及为小组互动分配时间。