Dr Spencer Wheaton Senior Lecturer
Department of Physics
University of Cape Town
 
BSc (Hons) (UCT)
MSc (UCT)
PhD (UCT)

Address:    Department of Physics
                   University of Cape Town
                   Private Bag X3
                   Rondebosch,  7701
                   Cape Town,   South Africa

Phone:        +27  21  650-5991

Fax:            +27   21  650-3342
Email:        spencer.wheaton@uct.ac.za

 

  

THERMUS: Statistical-Thermal Model Analysis Package for ROOT
(Link to THERMUS Code and Documentation)

  
 

 

  

Teaching (Link to Course Notes)

  
 

Teaching commitments for 2009 include:
Projects Available!  
 
The following projects are available to honours and MSc students. Generous funding at the MSc level is available to both South African and Foreign Nationals.

 

  1. Fluctuations in Heavy-Ion Collisions within Statistical-Thermal Models

  2. Monte-Carlo Particle Generator for the study of event-by-event fluctuations

  3. Boundary Effects in Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics

  4. Numerical Solutions of the Schrodinger Equation using Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics

  
Collaborators  
   

Recent collaborators include:

 

  

Michael Hauer

Jean Cleymans

Peter Levai

Helmut Oeschler

Ingrid Kraus

www.cerecam.uct.ac.za

 

 

  
 

 

 Applied Physics Home Physics home Contact Us

 
Research Interests
 
Description of High-Energy Collision Systems using Statistical-Thermal Techniques

Computational Techniques in Applied Physics

 

Statistical-Thermal models are extremely successful in describing the state created by the ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the large particle accelerators. A great deal of local expertise exists in the application of these models to particle multiplicities. In fact, THERMUS, a code developed as part of my PhD, is one of the world-leaders in such analyses.

At present, THERMUS is being extended to allow also for the study of event-by-event fluctuations, believed to be a signal for quark-gluon plasma formation in the early stages of such collisions. Work is also underway in developing a Monte Carlo Particle Generator for describing the collisions. This research is done in collaboration with Michael Hauer of the Helmholtz Research School in Frankfurt.

Computational Techniques in Applied Physics: Very few real-world problems can be solved analytically. Instead, numerical techniques have to be applied. One such technique, Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), is currently under investigation. SPH is a mesh-free method employed typically in function interpolation and the solution of partial differential equations. Despite the name, SPH can be used to solve non-hydrodynamic problems too. The power of SPH is realised in problems of high-deformation, where grid-based techniques fail. However, SPH is not without its limitations. Boundary effects and the imposition of boundary conditions are the subject of ongoing research, leading to numerous techniques and correction schemes.

 
Current Students
 
M. Hromnik (MSc)   Radiation transport in discrete particulate systems
   
 
Past Students
 
T. Stranex (Hons)   Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics as a General Method for Numerically Solving PDEs
I. von Glehn (Hons) Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics
   
Publications
 

Since 2002 I have co-authored 27 academic papers. Recent publications include:

  • S. Wheaton, J. Cleymans and M. Hauer, Comput. Phys. Commun. 180 (2009) 84.
  • J. Cleymans, G. Hamar, P. Levai and S. Wheaton, hep-ph/0812.1471.
  • J. Cleymans, R. Sahoo, D.P. Mahapatra, D.K. Srivastava and S. Wheaton, J. Phys. G 35 (2008) 104147.
  • J. Cleymans, R. Sahoo, D.K. Srivastava and S. Wheaton, Eur. Phys. J.ST 155 (2008) 13.

  • J. Cleymans, R. Sahoo, D.P. Mahapatra, D.K. Srivastava and S. Wheaton, Phys. Lett. B660 (2008) 172.

  • N. Armesto, (ed.) et al., J. Phys. G 35 (2008) 054001.

  • I. Kraus, J. Cleymans, H. Oeschler, K. Redlich and S. Wheaton, Phys. Rev. C76 (2007) 064903.
 
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