Single-bubble sonoluminescence: studying the spectral, spatial and temporal properties of sonoluminescence

A great opportunity to study for a fully funded PhD while gaining valuable teaching experience.

6 years total duration, 0.5 FTE studying, 0.5 FTE teaching, compensated at currently £24983 p.a. pro-rata, therefore £12491
A student loan of up to £25000 in total over the six years may also be available to support this PhD (see Student Loans Company website for details).

Applying a strong focussed acoustic wave to a liquid can cause cavitation and the formation of a bubble of dissolved gas which undergoes resonant compression and expansion. Under suitable conditions, light is produced, visible to the naked eye. The light is pulsed, with a duration of about 20 ps. Several models to explain the origin of the light have been proposed, ranging from “cold fusion”, exotic quantum effects, to ionisation due to localised extreme temperature increase. This project aims to create controlled sonoluminescence and study its spectral, spatial and temporal properties, as well and optimising the strength of the SL with temperature, dissolved gas concentration, and acoustic signal.

The Jeremiah Horrocks institute is based in Preston as part of the University of Central Lancashire. Preston has a proud history of manufacturing and production including the cotton mills of the 1800s and the production of aircraft in the early 1960s. Preston was granted City Status by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.

Jeremiah Horrocks, from whom the institute gains its name, was an English astronomer. Born in Liverpool (1618 – 1641), he was the first person to demonstrate that the Moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical orbit. More notably, he predicted and was the only person to observe the transit of Venus of 1639.

The University of Central Lancashire has developed and evolved over time to become the fifth largest university in the UK. Founded in 1828 as the Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge by Joseph Livesey’s Temperance Society. In 1886 the institute was expanded under the endowment of a local lawyer, Edmund Robert Harris (1804-1877). The institute was renamed to the Harris Institute and expanded to take on several new buildings. The institute was renamed in 1932 as the Harris Art College and in 1952 was renamed again to become the Harris College. In 1973, the College was renamed to become Preston Polytechnic and then later Lancashire Polytechnic in 1984. In 1992, the full university status was awarded and the University of Central Lancashire came into existence.

The Jeremiah Horrocks Institute was established in 1993 as the Centre for Astrophysics. Renamed in 2004 as the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI) for Astrophysics and Super-Computing, the JHI grew in 2012 to become the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy. Already extremely well-regarded in astronomy and astrophysics research, the Institute has been investing in experimental physics since 2013 and now has a world-leading portfolio in nanophysics, magnetic materials and magnetic modelling, ionic liquids, strongly correlated electron systems and several other areas.