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Faculty of Science
Dufois, F., Rouault, M. 2012. The inter-annual variability
of sea surface temperature in False Bay and the southern
Benguela system. In: 28th Annual SASAS Conference
Proceeding 2012. Bridging the gap, 26-27 September
2012, Cape Town (South Africa). Cape Town: South African
Society for Atmospheric Sciences (SASAS).
Rouault, M., Roy, S.S. and Balling, R.C. 2012. The diurnal
cycle of rainfall in South Africa in the austral summer. In:
28th Annual SASAS Conference Proceeding 2012. Bridging
the gap, 26-27 September 2012, Cape Town (South Africa).
Cape Town: South African Society for Atmospheric Sciences
(SASAS).
Doctoral dissertations
Blamey, R.C. 2012. Mesoscale Convective Complexes
oversouthern Africa. 295pp. Supervised by Reason, C.J.C.
Halo, I.F.M., Penven, P. 2012. The Mozambique Channel
eddies: characteristics and mechanisms of formation.
200pp. Supervised by Ansorge, I. and Penven, P.
Hart, N., 2012. Synoptic-scale rainfall patterns over
southern Africa:scale-interactions with large-scale modes
of variability. 92pp. Supervised by Reason, C.J.C. and
Fauchereau, N.
Nehama, F. 2012. Modelling the Zambezi River plume
using the Regional Oceanic Modelling System. 177pp.
Supervised by Reason, C.J.C.
Wainman, C. 2012. Estimating the upper ocean vertical
temperature structure from surface temperature as
applied to the southern Benguela. 135pp. Supervised by
Shillington, F.A.
Department of Physics
Head of Department: Associate Professor
Andy Buffler
Departmental Profile
The Department of Physics is accommodated in the R
W James Building, which houses research laboratories
equipped for nuclear physics, X-ray stress determination,
computational physics and nanoelectronics production.
Additional facilities available to the Department are
provided within the building by the Electron Microscope
Unit (Scanning Electron Microscope and Transmission
Electron Microscope), and at iThemba LABS (200 MeV
cyclotron, a 5 MeV Van de Graaff accelerator used for
ion beam analysis, including a nuclear microprobe, high
resolution X-ray diffraction, and PET scanners adapted for
positron emission particle tracking).
Major areas of interest include:
1. Experimental nuclear physics at iThemba LABS (D G
Aschman, A Buffler, R W Fearick, M R Nchodu): (a) Gamma
ray spectroscopy with the AFRODITE array; (b) Giant
resonance reactions with the magnetic spectrometer; (c)
Fast neutron physics
2. Theoretical Physics (J W A Cleymans, C A Dominguez,
W A Horowitz, A Peshier, S M Perez, H W G Weigert, S M
Wheaton and R D Viollier): (a) Research within the Centre
for Theoretical and Mathematical Physics; (b) Structure of
elementary particles; (c) Weak interactions; (d) Quantum
Electrodynamics and Chromodynamics in vacuum at
extreme temperatures and densities; (e) Renormalization
group equations (Color Glass Condensate); (f) Nonlinear
effects in QCD at high densities; (g) Phenomenology of
heavy ion reactions; (h) Quark gluon plasma; (i) Nuclear
structure and models
3. Experimental high energy physics (J W A Cleymans, R
W Fearick, A Hamilton): (a) Research within the UCT-CERN
Research Centre; (b) Relativistic heavy ion collisions within
the ALICE collaboration at CERN; (c) High energy proton-
proton collisions within the ATLAS collaboration at CERN
4. Nanophysics and solid state physics (M D Blumenthal,
D T Britton, C M Comrie and M Härting): (a) Research
within the Nanosciences Innovation Centre; (b) Structural
and electrical properties of thin films; (c) X-ray diffraction
studies of strain fields and residual stress analysis; (d) Single
electron transport and interactions
5. Applied Physics (A Buffler, I Govender, M R Nchodu, S
W Peterson, S M Wheaton): (a) Positron Emission Particle
Tracking at PEPT Cape Town, iThemba LABS; (b) Particulate
flow and interaction characterization in engineering and
biological systems by computational and mechanistic
modelling; (c) Radiation transport modelling in industrial
and medical systems; (d) Applied nuclear physics using
neutrons; (e) Geo-neutrino detection (EARTH collaboration)
6. Tertiary physics education (M S Allie, A Buffler and D
Taylor): (a) Curriculum design and evaluation; (b) Role
of language; (c) Understanding of measurement and
uncertainty; (d) Modelling and visualization
Departmental Statistics
Permanent and Long Term Contract Staff
Professor
3
Associate Professor
6
Senior Lecturer
2
Lecturer
5
Part-time Lecturer
1