Harry Swinney

Harry Leonard Swinney (born April 10, 1939) is an

American physicist noted for his contributions to the Harry Swinney
field of nonlinear dynamics. Born Harry Leonard Swinney
April 10, 1939
Opelousas, Louisiana, U.S.
Personal life Alma mater Southwestern at Memphis (now
Rhodes College)
Harry Leonard Swinney was born in Opelousas,
Johns Hopkins University
Louisiana, on April 10, 1939. His parents were
Leonard R. Swinney and Ethel Bertheaud Swinney. In Known for Chaos, pattern formation, and
1967 Harry Swinney married Gloria T. Luyas, and in fluid dynamics experiments
1978 they had a son, Brent Luyas Swinney. Brent died Awards Boltzmann Medal (2013)
of cancer in 1995 and Gloria died of cancer in 1997. Lewis Fry Richardson Medal
Harry Swinney married Lizabeth Kelley on August 12, (2012)
2000.
Jürgen Moser Award (2007)
American Physical Society

Education Fluid Dynamics Prize (1995)

Scientific career
Swinney attended elementary school in Austin, Texas, Fields Physics
and in 1957 graduated from Homer Louisiana High
Institutions New York University
School. In 1961 he was awarded a B.S. with honors in
physics by Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes City College of New York
College), where he was inspired by his physics University of Texas at Austin
professor and research mentor, Jack H. Taylor. In 1968 Doctoral Herman Z. Cummins
he was awarded a Ph.D. in physics by Johns Hopkins advisor
University; his advisor was Herman Z. Cummins.

Career
Swinney was an assistant professor of physics at New York University (1971–73) and was associate
professor and then professor at the City College of the City University of New York (1973–78). Since
1978 Swinney has been on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, where he is now Sid W.
Richardson Foundation Regents Chair of Physics and director of the Center for Nonlinear Dynamics.

Honors
Swinney is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1992) and a fellow of the American Physical
Society (1977), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991), the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (1999), and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2009). He was
awarded the American Physical Society Fluid Dynamics Prize (1995), the Society for Industrial and
Applied Mathematics Jürgen Moser Prize (2007), the European Geosciences Union Richardson Medal
(2012), and the Boltzmann Medal (2013) of the Commission on Statistical Physics of the International
Union of Pure and Applied Physics. He was a Guggenheim Fellow (1983–84) and he was inducted into
The Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars (1984). He was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by
Rhodes College (2002), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2008), and the University of Buenos Aires
(2010).

Research contributions
Swinney conducts research on instabilities, chaos, and pattern formation in diverse systems, including
fluid, chemical, and granular media. Swinney together with his students, postdocs, and other collaborators
have:

determined the decay rate of order parameter fluctuations for fluids near the critical point
[1][2]

observed a transition to chaos—deterministic yet nonperiodic behavior—in experiments on

a fluid flow [3][4][5]
characterized chaos from time series data by computing the largest Lyapunov exponent
(rate of loss of predictability) [6] and the mutual information (general dependence of two
variables) [7]
discovered multiple transitions to different patterns of fluid flow between concentric
independently rotating cylinders [8]
designed a laboratory experiment that yielded a stable vortex for conditions mimicking those
on Jupiter.[9] This result provides a plausible explanation of the stability of Jupiter's Great
Red Spot, which was first observed by Robert Hooke in 1664.
observed the emergence of a spatial pattern in a chemical system,[10] as predicted in 1952
by Alan Turing
determined the scaling of power dissipated in strongly turbulent flow between concentric
rotating cylinders [11][12]
observed anomalous diffusion and Lévy flights in a fluid flow [13]
discovered localized structures, dubbed "oscillons", in an oscillating granular layer;[14]
oscillons were subsequently found in many dynamical systems. The granular experiments
also investigated various extended spatial patterns,[15] shock waves,[16] and fluctuations.[17]
observed resonant pattern formation with frequency locking in chemical systems [18][19]
found fractal cascades of waves on the edges of leaves, flowers, and garbage bags [20][21]
found a resonance in internal wave boundary currents generated by tidal flow on a slope;
this resonance apparently selects the angle (typically three degrees) of the continental
slopes of the oceans [22]
discovered a new protein, Slf, which is produced by neighboring colonies of Paenibacillus
dendritiformis bacteria.[23] Slf is lethal to bacteria near the edge of a colony that faces
another P. dendritiformis colony.[24]
 found that fluctuations in the number N of bacteria swimming in a volume varied as N^(3/4),
in contrast to the N^(1/2) scaling of fluctuations for systems in thermodynamic equilibrium
[25]

Other
Swinney, together with Rajarshi Roy and Kenneth Showalter, founded a two-week Hands-On Research
School for early career scientists from developing countries: [Link] ([Link]
[Link]/). The schools, sponsored by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, are described in a 3-
minute video here ([Link]

References
1. Swinney, H. L.; Cummins, Herman Z. (1968-07-05). "Thermal Diffusivity of CO2 in the
Critical Region". Physical Review. 171 (1). American Physical Society (APS): 152–160.
Bibcode:1968PhRv..171..152S ([Link]
doi:10.1103/physrev.171.152 ([Link] ISSN 0031-
899X ([Link]
2. Swinney, Harry L.; Henry, Donald L. (1973-11-01). "Dynamics of Fluids near the Critical
Point: Decay Rate of Order-Parameter Fluctuations". Physical Review A. 8 (5). American
Physical Society (APS): 2586–2617. Bibcode:1973PhRvA...8.2586S ([Link]
[Link]/abs/1973PhRvA...8.2586S). doi:10.1103/physreva.8.2586 ([Link]
Fphysreva.8.2586). ISSN 0556-2791 ([Link]
3. Gollub, J. P.; Swinney, Harry L. (1975-10-06). "Onset of Turbulence in a Rotating Fluid".
Physical Review Letters. 35 (14). American Physical Society (APS): 927–930.
Bibcode:1975PhRvL..35..927G ([Link]
doi:10.1103/physrevlett.35.927 ([Link] ISSN 0031-
9007 ([Link]
4. Fenstermacher, P. R.; Swinney, Harry L.; Gollub, J. P. (1979-09-11). "Dynamical instabilities
and the transition to chaotic Taylor vortex flow". Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 94 (1).
Cambridge University Press (CUP): 103–128. Bibcode:1979JFM....94..103F ([Link]
[Link]/abs/1979JFM....94..103F). doi:10.1017/s0022112079000963 ([Link]
10.1017%2Fs0022112079000963). ISSN 0022-1120 ([Link]
1120). S2CID 14359747 ([Link]
5. Brandstater, A.; Swinney, Harry L. (1987-03-01). "Strange attractors in weakly turbulent
Couette-Taylor flow". Physical Review A. 35 (5). American Physical Society (APS): 2207–
2220. Bibcode:1987PhRvA..35.2207B ([Link]
207B). doi:10.1103/physreva.35.2207 ([Link]
ISSN 0556-2791 ([Link] PMID 9898397 ([Link]
[Link]/9898397).
6. Wolf, Alan; Swift, Jack B.; Swinney, Harry L.; Vastano, John A. (1985). "Determining
Lyapunov exponents from a time series" ([Link]
[Link]) (PDF). Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena. 16 (3). Elsevier BV: 285–317.
Bibcode:1985PhyD...16..285W ([Link]
doi:10.1016/0167-2789(85)90011-9 ([Link]
1-9). ISSN 0167-2789 ([Link] S2CID 14411384 (http
s://[Link]/CorpusID:14411384).
 7. Fraser, Andrew M.; Swinney, Harry L. (1986-02-01). "Independent coordinates for strange
attractors from mutual information". Physical Review A. 33 (2). American Physical Society
(APS): 1134–1140. Bibcode:1986PhRvA..33.1134F ([Link]
PhRvA..33.1134F). doi:10.1103/physreva.33.1134 ([Link]
1134). ISSN 0556-2791 ([Link] PMID 9896728 (http
s://[Link]/9896728).
8. Andereck, C. David; Liu, S. S.; Swinney, Harry L. (1986). "Flow regimes in a circular Couette
system with independently rotating cylinders". Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 164. Cambridge
University Press (CUP): 155–183. Bibcode:1986JFM...164..155A ([Link]
edu/abs/1986JFM...164..155A). doi:10.1017/s0022112086002513 ([Link]
2Fs0022112086002513). ISSN 0022-1120 ([Link]
S2CID 122768769 ([Link]
9. Sommeria, Jöel; Meyers, Steven D.; Swinney, Harry L. (1988). "Laboratory simulation of
Jupiter's Great Red Spot". Nature. 331 (6158). Springer Science and Business Media LLC:
689–693. Bibcode:1988Natur.331..689S ([Link]
689S). doi:10.1038/331689a0 ([Link] ISSN 0028-0836 (http
s://[Link]/issn/0028-0836). S2CID 39201626 ([Link]
CorpusID:39201626).
10. Ouyang, Q.; Swinney, Harry L. (1991). "Transition from a uniform state to hexagonal and
striped Turing patterns". Nature. 352 (6336). Springer Science and Business Media LLC:
610–612. Bibcode:1991Natur.352..610O ([Link]
610O). doi:10.1038/352610a0 ([Link] ISSN 0028-0836 (htt
ps://[Link]/issn/0028-0836). S2CID 4316122 ([Link]
CorpusID:4316122).
11. Lathrop, Daniel P.; Fineberg, Jay; Swinney, Harry L. (1992-11-01). "Transition to shear-
driven turbulence in Couette-Taylor flow". Physical Review A. 46 (10). American Physical
Society (APS): 6390–6405. Bibcode:1992PhRvA..46.6390L ([Link]
bs/1992PhRvA..46.6390L). doi:10.1103/physreva.46.6390 ([Link]
eva.46.6390). ISSN 1050-2947 ([Link] PMID 9907951
([Link]
12. Lewis, Gregory S.; Swinney, Harry L. (1999-05-01). "Velocity structure functions, scaling,
and transitions in high-Reynolds-number Couette-Taylor flow". Physical Review E. 59 (5).
American Physical Society (APS): 5457–5467. Bibcode:1999PhRvE..59.5457L ([Link]
[Link]/abs/1999PhRvE..59.5457L). doi:10.1103/physreve.59.5457 ([Link]
g/10.1103%2Fphysreve.59.5457). ISSN 1063-651X ([Link]
51X). PMID 11969525 ([Link]
13. Solomon, T. H.; Weeks, Eric R.; Swinney, Harry L. (1993-12-13). "Observation of anomalous
diffusion and Lévy flights in a two-dimensional rotating flow". Physical Review Letters. 71
(24). American Physical Society (APS): 3975–3978. Bibcode:1993PhRvL..71.3975S (https://
[Link]/abs/1993PhRvL..71.3975S). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.71.3975 (http
s://[Link]/10.1103%2Fphysrevlett.71.3975). ISSN 0031-9007 ([Link]
sn/0031-9007). PMID 10055122 ([Link]
14. Umbanhowar, Paul B.; Melo, Francisco; Swinney, Harry L. (1996). "Localized excitations in
a vertically vibrated granular layer". Nature. 382 (6594). Springer Science and Business
Media LLC: 793–796. Bibcode:1996Natur.382..793U ([Link]
6Natur.382..793U). doi:10.1038/382793a0 ([Link]
ISSN 0028-0836 ([Link] S2CID 4338010 ([Link]
[Link]/CorpusID:4338010).
15. Melo, Francisco; Umbanhowar, Paul B.; Swinney, Harry L. (1995-11-20). "Hexagons, Kinks,
and Disorder in Oscillated Granular Layers". Physical Review Letters. 75 (21). American
Physical Society (APS): 3838–3841. arXiv:patt-sol/9507003 ([Link]
07003). Bibcode:1995PhRvL..75.3838M ([Link]
3838M). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.75.3838 ([Link]
ISSN 0031-9007 ([Link] PMID 10059744 ([Link]
[Link]/10059744). S2CID 30000930 ([Link]
D:30000930).
16. Rericha, Erin C.; Bizon, Chris; Shattuck, Mark D.; Swinney, Harry L. (2001-12-17). "Shocks
in Supersonic Sand". Physical Review Letters. 88 (1). American Physical Society (APS):
014302. arXiv:cond-mat/0104474 ([Link]
Bibcode:2001PhRvL..88a4302R ([Link]
R). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.88.014302 ([Link]
ISSN 0031-9007 ([Link] PMID 11800951 ([Link]
[Link]/11800951). S2CID 16876943 ([Link]
D:16876943).
17. Schröter, Matthias; Goldman, Daniel I.; Swinney, Harry L. (2005-03-30). "Stationary state
volume fluctuations in a granular medium". Physical Review E. 71 (3). American Physical
Society (APS): 030301(R). arXiv:cond-mat/0501264 ([Link]
4). Bibcode:2005PhRvE..71c0301S ([Link]
1S). doi:10.1103/physreve.71.030301 ([Link]
ISSN 1539-3755 ([Link] PMID 15903397 ([Link]
[Link]/15903397). S2CID 8469315 ([Link]
D:8469315).
18. Petrov, Valery; Ouyang, Qi; Swinney, Harry L. (1997). "Resonant pattern formation in
achemical system" ([Link] Nature. 388 (6643). Springer
Science and Business Media LLC: 655–657. Bibcode:1997Natur.388..655P ([Link]
[Link]/abs/1997Natur.388..655P). doi:10.1038/41732 ([Link]
732). ISSN 0028-0836 ([Link] S2CID 4394770 (http
s://[Link]/CorpusID:4394770).
19. Masel/ko, J.; Swinney, Harry L. (1986). "Complex periodic oscillations and Farey arithmetic
in the Belousov–Zhabotinskii reaction". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 85 (11). AIP
Publishing: 6430–6441. Bibcode:1986JChPh..85.6430M ([Link]
1986JChPh..85.6430M). doi:10.1063/1.451473 ([Link]
ISSN 0021-9606 ([Link]
20. Sharon, Eran; Roman, Benoît; Marder, Michael; Shin, Gyu-Seung; Swinney, Harry L. (2002).
"Buckling cascades in free sheets". Nature. 419 (6907). Springer Science and Business
Media LLC: 579. doi:10.1038/419579a ([Link]
hdl:10533/173399 ([Link] ISSN 0028-0836 ([Link]
[Link]/issn/0028-0836). PMID 12374967 ([Link]
7). S2CID 4419167 ([Link]
21. Sharon, Eran; Marder, Michael; Swinney, Harry (2004). "Leaves, Flowers and Garbage
Bags: Making Waves". American Scientist. 92 (3). Sigma Xi: 254–261.
doi:10.1511/2004.47.932 ([Link] ISSN 0003-0996 (http
s://[Link]/issn/0003-0996). JSTOR 27858394 ([Link]
58394).
22. Zhang, H. P.; King, B.; Swinney, Harry L. (2008-06-20). "Resonant Generation of Internal
Waves on a Model Continental Slope". Physical Review Letters. 100 (24). American
Physical Society (APS): 244504. Bibcode:2008PhRvL.100x4504Z ([Link]
[Link]/abs/2008PhRvL.100x4504Z). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.100.244504 ([Link]
1103%2Fphysrevlett.100.244504). ISSN 0031-9007 ([Link]
007). PMID 18643589 ([Link]
23. Be'er, A.; Zhang, H. P.; Florin, E.-L.; Payne, S. M.; Ben-Jacob, E.; Swinney, H. L. (2009-01-
07). "Deadly competition between sibling bacterial colonies" ([Link]
mc/articles/PMC2626719). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (2): 428–
433. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106..428B ([Link]
8B). doi:10.1073/pnas.0811816106 ([Link]
ISSN 0027-8424 ([Link] PMC 2626719 ([Link]
[Link]/pmc/articles/PMC2626719). PMID 19129489 ([Link]
ov/19129489).
24. Be'er, A.; Ariel, G.; Kalisman, O.; Helman, Y.; Sirota-Madi, A.; et al. (2010-03-22). "Lethal
protein produced in response to competition between sibling bacterial colonies" ([Link]
[Link]/pmc/articles/PMC2851949). Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. 107 (14): 6258–6263. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107.6258B ([Link]
edu/abs/2010PNAS..107.6258B). doi:10.1073/pnas.1001062107 ([Link]
Fpnas.1001062107). ISSN 0027-8424 ([Link]
PMC 2851949 ([Link] PMID 20308591
([Link]
25. Zhang, H. P.; Be'er, A.; Florin, E.- L.; Swinney, H. L. (2010-07-19). "Collective motion and
density fluctuations in bacterial colonies" ([Link]
22251). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (31): 13626–13630.
Bibcode:2010PNAS..10713626Z ([Link]
Z). doi:10.1073/pnas.1001651107 ([Link]
ISSN 0027-8424 ([Link] PMC 2922251 ([Link]
[Link]/pmc/articles/PMC2922251). PMID 20643957 ([Link]
ov/20643957).

External links
Homepage of H.L. Swinney at the University of Texas at Austin ([Link]
ple/faculty/harry-l-swinney)
List of H.L. Swinney's students and postdocs ([Link]
t/uploads/2017/01/[Link])
Current research ([Link]

Retrieved from "[Link]