Deymier Leading New Frontiers of Sound Center

MSE professor Pierre Deymier will serve as the principal investigator on a National Science Foundation grant establishing the New Frontiers of Sound Science and Technology Center at the University of Arizona. The Center will focus on topological acoustics, an emerging field examining the properties of sound in ways that could vastly improve computing. The five-year, $30 million grant aims to supercharge the field of acoustics and allow researchers to access information they couldn't see before. 

"We all know technologies such as the loudspeaker or the microphone, but we also use sound for sensing environments, such as with sonar and ultrasound medical imaging, and for data transmission and processing every day in your smartphone," Deymier said. "However, the quiet revolution advancing sound science and technology is afoot. And that is where the new center comes in."

Using topological acoustics is a sophisticated way of looking at sound that maps sound waves to an abstract multidimensional space, called a Hilbert Space, to examine their geometry. By examining sound in this way, scientists can see and manipulate attributes of sound waves that aren't visible in traditional acoustics.

"Topological acoustics exploits attributes of sound waves that have remained hidden so far," Deymier said. "It harnesses the full power of acoustic waves. That suddenly enables extraordinary properties of sound – such as sound waves that mimic quantum waves or that can hit a hard surface without generating an echo – that can affect a huge number of technologies."

Senior personnel for the Center include MSE professors Krishna Muralidharan and Pierre Lucas, MSE associate professor Minkyu Kim, and MSE assistant professors Marat Latypov and Zafer Mutlu.