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Brian Utter Assistant Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy 540.568.4665 utterbc@jmu.edu

Education, Honors, Awards

• M.S., Ph.D., Cornell University (1998, 2001)
• NSF Traineeship Fellowship
• B.S. Rutgers College, Rutgers University (1995)

Research Interests

• Granular materials
• Multiphase flows
• Complex systems

Research Description

Granular systems are composed of simple building blocks which interact by frictional and collisional forces covered in an intro physics course.   Yet, surprisingly, there are no generic equations of motion to describe their flow.  We have the ideal gas law for gases and the Navier-Stokes laws for fluids, but there is no analog for granular materials.  You can stand on a sandy beach as if it was a solid, pour it from a bucket like a liquid, and even see a gas-like state with enough energy added, but granular materials also have properties unique compared to these states of matter.

Other research interests involve related systems, such as flows of suspensions and simulations of a host-parasite model. 

Selected Recent Publications

• D. Amon*, T. Niculescu*, and B. Utter. “2D avalanches with imposed vibrations”, submitted (Physical Review E).
• E. Hoppmann* and B. Utter. “Granular shear flow in 2D with imposed vibrations”, to be submitted.
• B. Utter and R. P. Behringer. “Experimental measures of affine and nonaffine deformation in granular shear”, Physical Review Letters, 100, 208302 (2008).
• B. C. Utter and R. P. Behringer. “Diffusion, transients, and non-affine deformations for granular Couette shear flow,” Powders and Grains 2005 Proceedings, R. García-Rojo, H.J. Hermann, and S. McNamara, Eds., A.A Balkema, Rotterdam (2005).
• B. Utter; E. Bodenschatz. "Double dendrite  growth in solidification," Physical Review E 72, 011601 (2005).
• B. Utter; R. Ragnarsson; and E. Bodenschatz. "An experimental apparatus and sample preparation for directional solidification," Review of Scientific Instruments, 76, 013906 (2005).
• B. Utter; R.P. Behringer. "Transients in granular shear," European Physical Journal E 14, 373 (2004).
• B. Utter; R.P. Behringer. "Self-diffusion in dense granular shear flows," Physical Review E 69, 031308 (2004).

* indicates undergraduate researchers.

Last Modified: 07/21/08