Dr. Michael Slawinski <br><small> (Ph.D. Calgary)</small>
Position
Professor
Contact Information
Office: ER 4032
Phone: 709-737-7541
Fax: 709-737-2589
E-mail: mslawins@esd.mun.ca
Research Interests
My research deals with seismic ray theory in elastic media. My
work investigates a geometrical formulation of seismic ray theory
that is grounded in variational principles, in particular the
classical results of Fermat and Hamilton. The geometrical approach
used in this investigation, which is based on the geometries of
Finsler and Cartan, has been developed during the past century and
forms a natural context for seismic ray theory research. In view of
Fermat's principle, raypaths are geodesics in the space wherein the
arclength is the traveltime. Moreover, in view of Huygens'
principle, the elementary wavefronts are indicatrices in the
tangent bundle over the medium while the phase-slowness surfaces
are figuratrices in the cotangent bundle. The relationship between
these two bundles is none other than the Legendre transformation,
which allows one to express wavefronts as Legendre images of the
phase-slowness curves.
My research is based on collaborations with mathematicians
possessing expertise in differential geometry and is conducted in
conjunction with petroleum and geophysical companies who also
provide financial support for the research project, graduate
students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scholars.