Event Details
Modes and Model Systems: Computational Studies in Biophysics, Nanophotonics, and Plasmonics
Presenter: Timothy DeWolf
Supervisor:
Date: Thu, March 30, 2023
Time: 11:15:00 - 00:00:00
Place: ZOOM - Please see below.
ABSTRACT
Timothy DeWolf is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://uvic.zoom.us/j/85494403906?pwd=NTlEVjVlYmdUZXYwb1gvakluZzhQQT09
Meeting ID: 854 9440 3906
Password: 545731
One tap mobile
+16475580588,,85494403906# Canada
+17789072071,,85494403906# Canada
Dial by your location
+1 647 558 0588 Canada
+1 778 907 2071 Canada
Meeting ID: 854 9440 3906
Find your local number: https://uvic.zoom.us/u/kcKmzgY77p
ABSTRACT
In this seminar, I will present work that I did during my Ph.D. This work is divided into three parts. The first part relates to biophysics. I provide theory to explain experimental results obtained by another student in Dr. Gordon’s lab. I show that the measured vibrational modes in proteins, obtained using Extraordinary Acoustic Raman (EAR) spectroscopy, are protein collective modes. Protein collective modes are important in protein allostery and conformational change, and thus to how proteins function. In a second part, I will discuss the construction of a new type of electromagnetic mode solver that uses complex coupled mode theory (CCMT) to construct the modes of an arbitrary optical fiber. This solver was implemented in a mixture of MATLAB and CUDA C/C++, as the algorithms involved are well-suited to GPU parallelization. It also has the advantage of allowing one to use an arbitrary basis set. Finally, in a third part I talk about modelling quantum effects in plasmonic nanostructures using a quantum-corrected model (QCM), whereby classical electromagnetic techniques are used to describe quantum phenomena (tunnelling). Specifically, I show that the QCM predicts both epsilon near zero (ENZ) effects and cloaking in spherical plasmonic nanoparticles.