So I happened to be on AIM yesterday, and my good friend Eugene was on too. I was able to learn about his research at Baylor University where he is a participant in the Baylor Summer Science Research Program. The abridged version of the chat follows:
Session Start (AIM - mikexstudios:eugeneIIIm): Fri Jun 25 21:49:35 2004
blah, blah blah…
[21:52] mikeXstudios: reading your blog
[21:53] mikeXstudios: it seems like you’re doing pretty interesting stuff
[21:53] eugeneIIIm: i haven’t told you what i’m doing
[21:53] eugeneIIIm: it’s complex plasmas
[21:53] eugeneIIIm: or dusty plasmas
[21:53] eugeneIIIm: see
[21:54] eugeneIIIm: when dust particles are put into a plasma environment
[21:54] eugeneIIIm: they gain a charge
[21:54] eugeneIIIm: and they interact and form a crystal stucture
[21:54] mikeXstudios: okay
[21:54] eugeneIIIm: they discovered this in 1994
[21:54] mikeXstudios: this plasma…is it suspended in air?
[21:55] eugeneIIIm: not in air perse
[21:55] mikeXstudios: yeah, space
[21:55] mikeXstudios: vacuum
[21:55] eugeneIIIm: yes
[21:55] eugeneIIIm: vacuum
[21:55] eugeneIIIm: low pressure argon
[21:55] mikeXstudios: and when you mean crystal, does that mean it takes on a cube shape?
[21:55] eugeneIIIm: like <1 torr (mmHg)
[21:55] mikeXstudios: since crystals tend to be cubic
[21:55] eugeneIIIm: 2d crystal
[21:55] eugeneIIIm: the dust particles are suspended
[21:55] eugeneIIIm: there is a dc bias away from the bottom electrode
[21:56] mikeXstudios: explain “dc bias away”
[21:56] eugeneIIIm: which is balanced by gravity and the shape of the bottom electrode
[21:56] eugeneIIIm: the electromagnetic force from the bottom electrode is negative
[21:57] eugeneIIIm: and the dust particles are negative
[21:57] eugeneIIIm: so they repel
[21:57] eugeneIIIm: the dust becomes negatively charged because it is hit with more electrons than ions
[21:57] eugeneIIIm: just because the electrons are faster and more numerous
[21:58] eugeneIIIm: and since the particles are relatively uniform in charge, they arrange themselves in a 2d crystal
[21:58] mikeXstudios: so everything is occuring on a plane?
[21:58] eugeneIIIm: because they all float at the same height
[21:58] eugeneIIIm: i guess you can think of it like that
[21:58] mikeXstudios: because I’m conceptualizing a plasma “cloud”
[21:58] eugeneIIIm: ok
[21:58] eugeneIIIm: let me show you a picture
[21:58] mikeXstudios: and clouds are 3d
[21:58] eugeneIIIm: yeah
[21:59] eugeneIIIm: there are two electrodes
[21:59] eugeneIIIm: the cylinder
[21:59] eugeneIIIm: um
[21:59] eugeneIIIm: look
[21:59] eugeneIIIm: i need to save this conversation for my presentation!
[21:59] mikeXstudios: yeah 
[21:59] eugeneIIIm: (Link: http://community.webshots.com/s/image1/0/28/91/151502891YeEZuS_ph.jpg)http://community.webshots.com/s/image1/0/28/91/151502891YeEZuS_ph.jpg
[21:59] mikeXstudios: I’ll ask you tons of questions, don’t worry
[22:00] eugeneIIIm: the purple stuff is plasma
[22:00] eugeneIIIm: the two big cylinder things are electrodes
[22:00] mikeXstudios: gotta make sure you understand what you’re talking about
[22:00] eugeneIIIm: ha ha
[22:00] mikeXstudios: (and make sure I understand it, hehe)
[22:00] eugeneIIIm: you can’t see the dust in this picture
[22:00] mikeXstudios: cool
[22:00] eugeneIIIm: we shine a laser into it
[22:00] eugeneIIIm: and the dust refracts it 90 degrees
[22:00] eugeneIIIm: into the camera
[22:00] eugeneIIIm: and then we take pictures
[22:01] eugeneIIIm: (Link: http://community.webshots.com/s/image1/0/38/21/151503821uJhJpI_ph.jpg)http://community.webshots.com/s/image1/0/38/21/151503821uJhJpI_ph.jpg
[22:01] eugeneIIIm: it’s b and w because there’s an infrared filter
[22:01] eugeneIIIm: then after we take the pictures
[22:02] mikeXstudios: stars
[22:02] mikeXstudios: looks like stars
[22:02] mikeXstudios: but continue
[22:02] eugeneIIIm: these programs in MATLAB determine the number of particles, distance between them, phase, etc..
[22:02] eugeneIIIm: ha ha
[22:02] eugeneIIIm: yeah, i guess they do
[22:02] mikeXstudios: yeah, I read on your blog that you’ve been programming in MATLAB
[22:02] mikeXstudios: what do you think of the language?
[22:02] eugeneIIIm: it’s basically c++
[22:03] eugeneIIIm: with better matrix capabilities
[22:03] eugeneIIIm: and you don’t have to worry about variable types
[22:04] eugeneIIIm: and it’s also easy to create graphs, 2d and 3d
[22:04] mikeXstudios: cool
[22:04] eugeneIIIm: and it’s designed to look at images
[22:04] eugeneIIIm: you can import images as matrices
[22:05] mikeXstudios: hm, interesting
[22:05] mikeXstudios: that could be useful
[22:05] eugeneIIIm: have you looked at all my pictures?
[22:05] eugeneIIIm: there’s a link in my info
[22:05] mikeXstudios: post here
[22:06] eugeneIIIm: (Link: http://community.webshots.com/user/eugeneiiim)http://community.webshots.com/user/eugeneiiim
[22:06] eugeneIIIm: i’ve been eating pho
[22:06] eugeneIIIm: and clay pots
[22:06] eugeneIIIm: at this one restaurant
[22:06] eugeneIIIm: called clay pot
[22:06] eugeneIIIm: it’s vietnamese
Session Close (eugeneIIIm): Fri Jun 25 22:06:45 2004
Okay, so Eugene’s eating clay pots….. Anyone see a problem with this? No wonder he’s so messed up! On the other hand, pho is very good :).
** This is where Trillian crashed. I switched to AIM where there is no built in logging **
eugeneIIIm: http://community.webshots.com/user/eugeneiiim
mikeXstudios: okay, cool
mikeXstudios: so continue, MATLAB is cool
mikeXstudios: and it can do all sorts of things with images
eugeneIIIm: uhh
eugeneIIIm: yes
[removed: eugene incriminating himself here]
eugeneIIIm: well you don’t really write “programs” in matlab
eugeneIIIm: just functions
eugeneIIIm: which you call in the main interface
mikeXstudios: okay
mikeXstudios: now, what are you using MATLAB for?
eugeneIIIm: ok
eugeneIIIm: it takes the pictures of the dust
eugeneIIIm: matlab analyses the images
eugeneIIIm: the one thing it determines
eugeneIIIm: is pair correlation functions
mikeXstudios: okay
eugeneIIIm: which is the probability that the closest particle will be at a certain distance
eugeneIIIm: or something like that
eugeneIIIm: so what i did in my spare time
mikeXstudios: was surf the web?
eugeneIIIm: oh yeah, you can determine phase of the crystal
mikeXstudios: and write emails?
eugeneIIIm: yes
eugeneIIIm: that
eugeneIIIm: mostly
eugeneIIIm: and play chess on yahoo
mikeXstudios: heh, that’s what people do in labs
mikeXstudios: well, what’s the phase of a crystal?
eugeneIIIm: ah
eugeneIIIm: i forgot
mikeXstudios: okay
mikeXstudios: and when you said:
mikeXstudios: eugeneIIIm: which is the probability that the closest particle will be at a certain distance
mikeXstudios: where are you measuring from?
mikeXstudios: each particle?
mikeXstudios: to another particle?
eugeneIIIm: the structure formed by the particles can be crystal, flow and floe, vibrational, and gaseous
eugeneIIIm: it looks at each particle
eugeneIIIm: and it calculates like the distance from every other particle
eugeneIIIm: (this takes a verrrry long time even on 3.2 ghz machines)
mikeXstudios: okay, I see
eugeneIIIm: and it’s like
eugeneIIIm: the number of particles at that distance
eugeneIIIm: so we’ve been looking at 9 micron particles, 6 micron, and glass
eugeneIIIm: the glass has various particle sizes
eugeneIIIm: and also mixtures of 9 and 6
mikeXstudios: okay
mikeXstudios: you’re making a plasma out of glass?
eugeneIIIm: noo
eugeneIIIm: the dust particles
mikeXstudios: okay, I see
eugeneIIIm: the plasma is always the low pressure argon
mikeXstudios: how is the plasma formed?
mikeXstudios: heating argon?
eugeneIIIm: the plasma can be pretty much any gas as long as it’s unreactive
eugeneIIIm: low pressure
mikeXstudios: define a plasma
eugeneIIIm: state of matter where electrons dissociate from nuclei
eugeneIIIm: the voltage along with low pressure
eugeneIIIm: creates the plasma
eugeneIIIm: with lower pressure, you don’t need to add as much energy
mikeXstudios: what do you mean by voltage?
eugeneIIIm: the voltage across the 2 electrodes
eugeneIIIm: we vary the voltage
eugeneIIIm: the voltage is the energy source
mikeXstudios: okay
eugeneIIIm: you know how stuff boils at lower temperatures in low pressure?
eugeneIIIm: it’s like that
mikeXstudios: yeah
mikeXstudios: okay, I get that part
mikeXstudios: you can move on
eugeneIIIm: ok
eugeneIIIm: ok
eugeneIIIm: so
eugeneIIIm: we vary the voltage
eugeneIIIm: and the pressure
eugeneIIIm: that affects the phase of the crystal
eugeneIIIm: the structure formed by the particles can be crystal, flow and floe, vibrational, and gaseous
eugeneIIIm: uh
mikeXstudios: clarification on “phase”?
eugeneIIIm: it behaves a lot like regular matter
eugeneIIIm: but much more slowly
mikeXstudios: oh
mikeXstudios: okay
eugeneIIIm: which allows you to observe phase changes more easily
mikeXstudios: I was thinking phase as in waves
eugeneIIIm: oh oh
mikeXstudios: but you mean something else
eugeneIIIm: i mean like solid liquid gas
mikeXstudios: okay, that makes more sense
eugeneIIIm: flow and floe is liquid
eugeneIIIm: crystal is solid
mikeXstudios: so, what the objective in your research?
eugeneIIIm: to look at the differences in phase change and crystal structure caused by differences in particle sizes and whether the particles are monodisperse
eugeneIIIm: meaning they are all the same size
eugeneIIIm: like the glass would be nonmonodisperse
eugeneIIIm: and the 9 micron would be monodisperse
eugeneIIIm: the mix of 9 and 6 would be nonmonodisperse
eugeneIIIm: etc…
mikeXstudios: okay
mikeXstudios: hm, getting a question…
mikeXstudios: probably the last before I retire
mikeXstudios: if your blog will load…
eugeneIIIm: heh
mikeXstudios: well, I can’t find it now
mikeXstudios: but I think you mentioned something about normalizing
eugeneIIIm: ooh
eugeneIIIm: yes
eugeneIIIm: the pair correlation functions
mikeXstudios: what does that mean?
mikeXstudios: yeah
eugeneIIIm: they’re traditionally normalized to area of 1 under the curve
eugeneIIIm: i guess it makes them easier to see
eugeneIIIm: you just divide each element by the sum of all elements
eugeneIIIm: and that works out to an area of 1
mikeXstudios: okay, cool
mikeXstudios: and finally, may I post exceprts of this “interview” on my blog?
eugeneIIIm: sure
mikeXstudios: alright, I’m out
mikeXstudios: see ya