For this, I simply smashed two copper spheres into each other at ~ 1 km/s using molecular dynamics. I used a Rydberg potential for copper that I had optimized for mechanical properties. I actually implemented it into LAMMPS and sent the pair potential file and description in their format to the developers so they could add it to pair_style library. That was about three years ago and as of this post, they haven't added it. I guess not enough people use the Rydberg potential for them to take interest.
Anyways, I had these exploding copper spheres via atomic trajectories that had fulfilled their scientific purpose. Just for fun, I decided to render the simulation in POV-Ray and make a movie with FFmpeg. Here is that looked like:
Pretty cool huh? Well that sat on my hard drive for about a year. Meanwhile, I had been trying to convince my adviser, John Kieffer to purchase a 3D TV to replace our office projector for two reasons. The first reason was that 3D TVs could be used to view atomic structures and the second was that the projector exhaust fan would cook whomever was sitting next to it. He finally found the money for this and put me in charge of purchasing a TV. I chose the Sony KDL-70R550A with the advice of the University of Michigan 3D Lab because passive 3D TVs take two side-by-side images and interlace them for the 3D output. It much easier to configure the 3D system when you don't have to worry about the GPU outputing a switching signal for each eye. The disadvantage is that you get half the lateral resolution in 3D mode. So if you have a side-by-side 3D mode on your screen, check out this video:
The funny thing is I don't care for 3D movie showings in theaters, but as a scientific tool they are pretty handy.
The funny thing is I don't care for 3D movie showings in theaters, but as a scientific tool they are pretty handy.
