Brown Theoretical Physics Center

Brad Marston and Baylor Fox-Kemper will join faculty from the University of New Hampshire and Bates College in a new study, now funded by the US Department of Energy’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This summer, the DOE announced $33 million in funding for clean energy research projects. Professor Marston and Professor Fox-Kemper’s collaboration aims to model the marine atmospheric boundary layer for the purpose of optimizing the development of floating off-shore wind power:

“The ultimate objective of the project is to develop an innovative and forward-looking basic research capability for the computer simulation of turbulent air flow in and around floating offshore wind farms embedded within the marine atmospheric boundary layer—the approximately 500-1000 meter deep region of the atmosphere that is in direct contact with and directly influenced by the ocean. This new capability, which will offer unmatched computational efficiency for wind-farm-design-level accuracy, will be used to investigate fundamental turbulent flow phenomena in offshore wind farms…The validated, multiscale predictive capability developed in this project can be leveraged to maximize power production, limit hardware damage, and reduce the cost per megawatt-hour of floating offshore wind energy technology… By working together on this project in an intense and coordinated fashion, the research team thus will position themselves to investigate other pressing challenges in renewable energy and environmental sustainability. Finally, the states of New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island will enjoy long-term benefits from this project, which will promote development of a workforce equipped with the technical skills to fill the growing needs in the energy sector and the blue economy.”

Read the full public abstract here.

Brown Theoretical Physics Center Director Brad Marston has been elected to the presidential line of the American Physical Society. Professor Marston will serve as vice president starting in 2024,  as president-elect in 2025, and as president in 2026.

He joins two Brown faculty members as past presidents of the APS with connections to the Theoretical Physics Center: co-founding Director Jim Gates (APS president in 2021), and Carl Barus (1856-1935, APS president in 1905-1906), professor of physics and Dean of the Graduate School. The BTPC is housed in the Barus Building.

Professor Marston, who helped start the APS Topical Group on the Physics of Climate and Brown’s Initiative for Sustainable Energy, said in his presidential candidacy statement:

“An understanding of physics endows us with critical perspectives to address the global threats of nuclear warfare and climate change and respond to the urgent call for global equity and sustainable sources of energy. It prepares us to confront emergent challenges such as quantum information and the rapid ascendance of artificial intelligence. In times of political tension, such as during the Cold War, physics brought people together to advance not just our understanding of science but also our mutual empathy and respect.”

Read more here.