On acoustic phenomena Christ Glorieux

Acoustic Phenomena and Applications of Acoustics

Acoustic waves are omnipresent in our daily life, but it is only occasionally that we wonder about their how and why. In this presentation, Glorieux will show that even ordinary acoustic events, and our perception of them, are driven by a fascinating combination of physics laws and phenomena. Attention will be given to how acoustic filtering is occurring in most acoustical scenarios, and how it can lead to exotic sound phenomena. Some light will be shed on the energy carried by acoustic waves, and on the question whether that energy could be exploited. Mechanisms to control sound propagation and reflection will be discussed, and the physics behind a series of particular acoustic phenomena (quetzal bird sound at Chichen Itza pyramid, photo acoustic effect, magneto acoustic effect, acoustic black hole) - and applications of acoustics (acoustic levitation, acoustic motors, acoustic refrigeration, sound source localization, self localization) will be addressed.

Christ Glorieux is an Associate Professor at the Laboratory for Acoustic and Thermic Physics (ATF) at the Physics and Astronomy Department of K.U. Leuven. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1994 on the topic “Depth profiling of inhomogeneous materials and study of the critical behavior of gadolinium by photo acoustic and related techniques”.

Glorieux is currently active in research an teaching. He is leading a research group in the field of photo thermal applications and laser ultrasonics for the fundamental study of the thermo physical properties of complex soft and heterogeneous matter, the development of measurement techniques for characterization and depth profiling of thin (sub-micron) layered structures, and non-destructive evaluation.