Current research:
Recently I have been able to complete some work in two main different areas
i) stratified flows, in particular the theory of jets of fluids in 2 and 3 Dimensions, and ii)
applications of Fluid Dynamics to solutions of living organisms. I have also continued,
with less emphasis, my work on Relativistic Kinetic Theory.
Topic i) is, and has been for a long time, my main line of research starting in 2002.
I have recently finished a collaboration on this subject that resulted in a paper submitted
for publication in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics. In this paper we propose a mechanism,
and present a model for the buckling instabilities of a saline jet injected through a nozzle
into a quasi two-dimensional reservoir of water with a saline gradient. Stratified flows
have applications in Geophysical problems and the instabilities we studied had never been
observed. Since our first experiments in 2002 this effect has been observed in many other
contexts such as ice formation.
Topic ii) connects Fluid Mechanics with Biophysics. In particular my collaborators
and I have studied the flows produced by swimming organisms. Contrary to the accepted
view which held that this kind of flows can always be captured by using the steady Stokes
equation (purely viscous, time independent hydrodynamics), we were able to show that
the time dependence of the flow is not always negligible and, hence, it is necessary to use
the unsteady Stokes equation to be able to describe correctly the flow patterns. This work
is presented in a paper accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters.
At present I continue working on the biophysical applications of Fluid Mechanics since
there are a series of phenomena in this field which may be explained with the novel idea
of utilising the unsteady Stokes equation as a descriptor of the flow. I am also refocusing
my attention on Relativistic Kinetic Theory and its connection to the equations of Fluid
Mechanics in presence of dissipative forces (viscous flows).
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Some recent publications:
- Lombardi, M. Caulfield, C. P., Cossu C., Goldstein R.E. and Pesci A. I. Growth
and Instability of a Laminar Plume in a Strongly Stratified Environment J. Fluid Mech
(submitted for publication)
- Leptos K.C., Guasto J.S., Gollub J.P., Pesci A.I. and Goldstein R.E. Dynamics of
Enhanced Tracer Diffusion in Suspension of Swimming Eukaryotic Micro-organisms Phys.
Rev. Lett. (in press),/li.
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