2005, installation: brass cylinder, metal arm, paper, torch, table.
Collaborative project with mathematician Brendan Guilfoyle. Gallery installation and centerfold produced for Feint magazine, April 2005.
While caustics have been studied since antiquity, recent mathematical research by Dr. Brendan Guilfoyle (IT Tralee, Ireland) and Dr. Wilhelm Klingenberg (Durham University, England) has led to new techniques for computing the shape of these curves. These techniques have also lead to new discoveries about caustics and their symmetries.
This project involved generating caustics experimentally and comparing the results with the theoretical predictions. In particular, the coffee cup caustic is reproduced by reflecting a bright light off the inside of a polished brass cylinder and the change of the caustic by varying light distances is investigated. While for a coffee cup the only visible caustic is formed by a single reflection, with the brass cylinder it has been possible to generate caustic formed by second, third and forth reflections.
d project with mathematician Brendan Guilfoyle.
Gallery installation and centerfold produced for Feint magazine, April 2005.
Caustics are bright patches that are formed by the focusing of light. One commonly observed example is the coffeecup caustic, which is created on the top of a cup of coffee by a strong light reflected off the inside of the cup.
While caustics have been studied since antiquity, recent mathematical research by Dr. Brendan Guilfoyle (IT Tralee, Ireland) and Dr. Wilhelm Klingenberg (Durham University, England) has led to new techniques for computing the shape of these curves. These techniques have also lead to new discoveries about caustics and their symmetries. Their result appear in a paper available at: http://uk.arxiv.org/abs/math.DG/0411189
Collaborative project with mathematician Brendan Guilfoyle.
Gallery installation and centerfold produced for Feint magazine, April 2005.
Caustics are bright patches that are formed by the focusing of light. One commonly observed example is the coffeecup caustic, which is created on the top of a cup of coffee by a strong light reflected off the inside of the cup.
While caustics have been studied since antiquity, recent mathematical research by Dr. Brendan Guilfoyle (IT Tralee, Ireland) and Dr. Wilhelm Klingenberg (Durham University, England) has led to new techniques for computing the shape of these curves. These techniques have also lead to new discoveries about caustics and their symmetries. Their result appear in a paper available at: http://uk.arxiv.org/abs/math.DG/0411189
This project involves generating caustics experimentally and comparing the results with the theoretical predictions. In particular, the coffee cup caustic is reproduced by reflecting a bright light off the inside of a polished brass cylinder and the change of the caustic by varying light distances is investigated. While for a coffee cup the only visible caustic is formed by a single reflection, with the brass cylinder it has been possible to generate caustic formed by second, third and forth reflections. The results are comparable with the mathematical predictions in the published woCaustics are bright patches that are formed by the focusing of light. One commonly observed example is the coffeecup caustic, which is created on the top of a cup of coffee by a strong light reflected off the inside of the cupWhile caustics have been studied since antiquity, recent mathematical research by Dr. Brendan Guilfoyle (IT Tralee, Ireland) and Dr. Wilhelm Klingenberg (Durham University, England) has led to new techniques for computing the shape of these curves. These techniques have also lead to new discoveries about caustics and their symmetries. This project involves generating caustics experimentally and comparing the results with the theoretical predictions. In particular, the coffee cup caustic is reproduced by reflecting a bright light off the inside of a polished brass cylinder and the change of the caustic by varying light distances is investigated. While for a coffee cup the only visible caustic is formed by a single reflection, with the brass cylinder it has been possible to generate caustic formed by second, third and forth reflections. The results are comparable with the mathematical predictions in the published work.
