Physics research often throws up some beautiful and intriguing images. Below are a few that have arisen in my research.
The picture on the front of my book is a thin slice of the mineral Komatite illuminated with white light and photographed through a polariser. A variety of colours are visible due to Faraday rotation. (with thanks to Mike Bickle).
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- Contour plot representing the time evolution of a quantum mechanical square wavepacket in a particle in a box potential.
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- Contour plot representing the evolution of superoscillations for a quantum wavepacket in a harmonic oscillator potential.
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- Interlocking trefoil equipotential surfaces describing the topology of knotted electromagnetic radiation.
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- Anl equipotential surface describing the topology of more exotically knotted electromagnetic radiation.
OK, so the research group in their Christmas jumpers probably isn’t either beautiful or intriguing.