CAREER: Integrated Program of Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Mechanics and Physics of Earthquakes

摘要：地震震源过程研究涉及地球物理、力学、科学计算、材料科学、应用物理、工程学、应用数学等学科。这个项目的目的是利用这种多学科的性质来实现两个相互关联的目标：(I)培养受过广泛教育的研究人员，能够进行跨学科合作，并将他们的结果传达给更广泛的社区；(Ii)通过考虑到实验研究、实地观察和潜在现象的分析模型的地震建模的跨学科方法，促进我们对地震震源过程的理解。PI的目标是：(1)基于物理理论和实验室实验，发展与地震现象有关的摩擦过程的本构规律；(2)基于这些规律建立真实的断层模型；(3)在所开发的模型中模拟自发断层行为，以确定对观察到的动态破裂和地震滑动行为负责的因素和参数范围；(4)通过(A)开发一门以研究为基础的课程，结合与地震研究相关的前沿地球物理和工程知识，以及(B)不同学科的研究生和本科生参与拟议的研究，创造一个多学科的学习环境；(5)接触更广泛的社区，访问附近公立学校的科学教室，这些学校主要为少数族裔提供服务，并就地震研究和科学发现发表演讲，帮助高中生更多地了解科学家的工作，并激励他们在科学和工程领域追求职业生涯。作为该项目的结果，改进的本构定律和地震模型将为分析和解释地震和大地测量数据提供基于物理和实验的替代方案。建议的研究将导致更好地理解地震间的行为、地震成核和动态破裂传播，这对于正确的地震危险规划是必不可少的。

-----Abstract, Nadia LapustaStudies of earthquake source processes involve geophysics, mechanics, scientific computing, materials science, applied physics, engineering, applied mathematics, and other subjects. This project is designed to take advantage of this multidisciplinary nature to achieve two interconnected goals: (I) To prepare broadly educated researchers capable of collaborating across disciplines and communicating their results to a broader community, and (II) To advance our understanding of earthquake source processes through interdisciplinary approach to earthquake modeling that takes into account experimental studies, field observations, and analytical models of the underlying phenomena. The PI aims to (1) Develop, based on physical theories and laboratory experiments, constitutive laws for frictional processes relevant to earthquake phenomena; (2) Formulate realistic fault models based on those laws; (3) Simulate spontaneous fault behavior in the developed models, to identify factors and parameter ranges responsible for observed behavior of dynamic ruptures and aseismic slip; (4) Create a multidisciplinary learning environment through (a) development of a research-based course on dynamic fracture and frictional faulting that combines cutting-edge geophysical and engineering knowledge relevant to earthquake studies, and (b) involvement of graduate and undergraduate students from different disciplines in the proposed research; (5) Reach out to a broader community by visiting science classrooms in neighboring public schools that serve mostly underrepresented minorities and giving presentations about earthquake studies and scientific discovery to help high-school students learn more about what scientists do and motivate them to pursue careers in science and engineering. Improved constitutive laws and earthquake models introduced as a result of this project would provide physically and experimentally based alternatives for analyzing and interpreting seismic and geodetic data. The proposed studies will lead to better understanding of interseismic behavior, earthquake nucleation, and dynamic rupture propagation that is essential for proper seismic hazard planning.