Boyd Edwards
Associate Professor
B.S., Utah State University, 1980
Ph.D., Stanford University, 1985

West Virginia University
Department of Physics
PO Box 6315
Morgantown, WV 26506

Tel: (304)293-3422 ext. 1433
Fax: (304)293-5732
EDWARDS@WVNVMS.WVNET.EDU

My interest in nonlinear fluid dynamics stems from the fascinating sequences of transitions which fluids undergo on the road to chaos. My interest has focused recently on convection near chemical reaction fronts. This focus was motivated originally by intriguing experiments which show that chemical reaction fronts ascending in vertical tubes are unstable to convection above a critical tube diameter. Theoretical research by my group identifies the two competing mechanisms which balance at this critical diameter, which are (a) the buoyancy of the lighter reacted fluid, which supports convection, and (b) molecular diffusion, which suppresses it. Striking agreement between theory and experiments is obtained in the critical diameter and in the associated nonaxisymmetric convective flow. Current interest lies in the nonlinear transition to axisymmetric convection at larger tube diameters, and in pattern formation for laterally extended systems.

My interest in percolation theory has focused recently on the fragmentation of percolation clusters. Percolation clusters are groups of adjacent occupied sites or bonds on a randomly occupied lattice. To understand the fragmentation of such clusters is to take a step closer to understanding the release of harmful ash particles during the combustion and fragmentation of pulverized coal char. These clusters are random fractals at a threshold occupancy, called the percolation threshold, above which a single large cluster spans an infinite lattice. Fragmentation of such threshold clusters by random bond removal exhibits scaling in the mass distribution of fragments. Rigorous scaling arguments relate the associated scaling exponents to standard percolation exponents. High-precision numerical simulations confirm these relationships.

Recent Publications

"Thermoconvective instability of paramagnetic fluids in a uniform magnetic field," J. Huang, B. F. Edwards, and D. D. Gray, Physics of Fluids 9, 1819 (1997).

"Cut-off model and exact general solutions for fragmentation with mass loss," J. Huang, X. Guo, B. F. Edwards, and A. D. Levine, Journal of Physics A 29, 7377 (1996).

"Pattern formation and evolution near autocatalytic reaction fronts in a narrow vertical slab," J. Huang and B. F. Edwards, Physical Review E 54, 2620 (1996).

"Chemical wave propagation in Hele-Shaw cells and porous media," D. A. Vasquez, J. W. Wilder, and B. F. Edwards, Journal of Chemical Physics 104, 9926 (1996).

"Simulation of nonlinear front evolution equations for two dimensional chemical waves involving convection," J. W. Wilder, D. A. Vasquez, and B. F. Edwards," Physica D 90, 170 (1996).

"Mass distribution on clusters at the percolation threshold," M. F. Gyure, M. V. Ferer, B. F. Edwards, and G. Huber, Phys. Rev. E Brief Reports 51, 2632 (1995).

"Nonaxisymmetric and axisymmetric convection in propagating reaction-diffusion fronts," J. Masere, D. A. Vasquez, B. F. Edwards, J. W. Wilder, and K. Showalter, J. Phys. Chem. 98, 6505 (1994).

"Derivation of a nonlinear front evolution equation for chemical waves involving convection," J. W. Wilder, B. F. Edwards, D. A. Vasquez, and G. I. Sivashinsky, Physica D 73, 217 (1994).

"Convective Turing Patterns," D. A. Vasquez, J. W. Wilder, and B. F. Edwards, Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1538 (1993).

"Convective Instability of Autocatalytic Reaction Fronts in Vertical Cylinders," D. A. Vasquez, J. W. Wilder, and B. F. Edwards, Phys. Fluids A 4,2410 (1992).

"Fragmentation of Percolation Clusters at the Percolation Threshold," M. F. Gyure and B. F. Edwards, Phys. Rev. Lett., 68, 2692 (1992).

E-mail: bedwards@wvu.edu

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