dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaCelebrating the Physics in Geophysics
| Authors | Anthony B. Davis, D. Sornette |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0510027 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0510027 |
| DOI | 10.1029/2005EO460002 |
| Journal | EOS (Transactions, American Geophysical Union) 86 (46), 461-467 (November 15, 2005) |
Abstract
As 2005, the International Year of Physics, comes to an end, two physicists working primarily in geophysical research reflect on how geophysics is not an applied physics. Although geophysics has certainly benefited from progress in physics and sometimes emulated the reductionist program of mainstream physics, it has also educated the physics community about some of the generic behaviors of strongly nonlinear systems. Dramatic examples are the insights we have gained into the ``emergent'' phenomena of chaos, cascading instabilities, turbulence, self-organization, fractal structure, power-law variability, anomalous scaling, threshold dynamics, creep, fracture, and so on. In all of these examples, relatively simple models have been able to explain the recurring features of apparently very complex signals and fields. It appears that the future of the intricate relation between physics and geophysics will be as exciting as its past has been characterized by a mutual fascination. Physics departments in our universities should capitalize on this trend to attract and retain young talent motivated to address problems that really matter for the future of the planet. A pressing topic with huge impact on populations and that is challenging enough for both physics and geophysics communities to work together like never before is the understanding and prediction of extreme events.
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"abstract": "As 2005, the International Year of Physics, comes to an end, two physicists\nworking primarily in geophysical research reflect on how geophysics is not an\napplied physics. Although geophysics has certainly benefited from progress in\nphysics and sometimes emulated the reductionist program of mainstream physics,\nit has also educated the physics community about some of the generic behaviors\nof strongly nonlinear systems. Dramatic examples are the insights we have\ngained into the ``emergent\u0027\u0027 phenomena of chaos, cascading instabilities,\nturbulence, self-organization, fractal structure, power-law variability,\nanomalous scaling, threshold dynamics, creep, fracture, and so on. In all of\nthese examples, relatively simple models have been able to explain the\nrecurring features of apparently very complex signals and fields. It appears\nthat the future of the intricate relation between physics and geophysics will\nbe as exciting as its past has been characterized by a mutual fascination.\nPhysics departments in our universities should capitalize on this trend to\nattract and retain young talent motivated to address problems that really\nmatter for the future of the planet. A pressing topic with huge impact on\npopulations and that is challenging enough for both physics and geophysics\ncommunities to work together like never before is the understanding and\nprediction of extreme events.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0510027",
"authors": [
"Anthony B. Davis",
"D. Sornette"
],
"categories": [
"physics.geo-ph",
"physics.ed-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1029/2005EO460002",
"journal_ref": "EOS (Transactions, American Geophysical Union) 86 (46), 461-467\n (November 15, 2005)",
"title": "Celebrating the Physics in Geophysics",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0510027"
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