"Table-top Experiments Inspired by Geophysical Phenomena" by Prof. Jun Zhang from NYU & NYU-Shanghai

Rayleigh-Bénard thermal convection (RBC) has been extensively studied in recent decades. Typically, the boundaries that contain the working fluid remain fixed, unyielding to fluid forces. Drawing inspiration from geophysical phenomena like continental dynamics and the super-rotation of Earth's solid core, our investigation probes the interaction between free boundaries and fluid flows undergoing thermal convection. While the mechanisms uncovered in our modest table-top experiments may not fully elucidate Earth's workings, they hold the potential to inspire novel ideas that could one day enhance our understanding of natural phenomena.

Prof. Jun Zhang, graduated and received his BS degree from Wuhan University in China, and earned his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. After a postdoctoral experience in biophysics at Rockefeller University, he came to NYU and started building the Applied Math Lab at the Courant Institute and later he became a faculty member (physics and math) there. His research interest has been in the field of physics of fluids and complex systems, which includes biomechanics or bio-locomotion (organismal swimming and flying), geophysical fluids (thermal convection, continental dynamics, and erosion), solid-on-solid friction, urban heat-island effect, and self-organization phenomena at many different scales.

Jun's work webpages and his photo can be found here:
https://shanghai.nyu.edu/academics/faculty/directory/jun-zhang
https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/jun-zhang.html