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

地震震源过程的研究涉及物理学、力学、科学计算、材料科学、应用物理、工程学、应用数学等多个学科。 该项目旨在利用这一多学科性质，实现两个相互关联的目标：（一）准备广泛教育的研究人员能够跨学科合作，并传达他们的结果，以更广泛的社区，和（二）通过跨学科的方法，以地震建模，考虑到实验研究，现场观察，和潜在现象的分析模型。 该项目的目标是：（1）基于物理理论和实验室实验，建立与地震现象相关的摩擦过程的本构关系;（2）根据这些关系建立真实的断层模型;（3）在所建立的模型中模拟自发断层行为，以确定引起动态破裂和非稳态滑动行为的因素和参数范围;（4）创造一个多学科的学习环境，办法是：（a）编制关于动态断裂和摩擦断层作用的研究课程，结合与地震研究有关的最新地球物理和工程知识;（B）让不同学科的研究生和本科生参与拟议的研究;（5）通过访问邻近公立学校的科学教室，接触更广泛的社区，这些学校主要为代表性不足的少数民族服务，并介绍地震研究和科学发现，以帮助高中生更多地了解科学家的工作，并激励他们追求科学和工程事业。 作为该项目的结果而采用的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以物理和实验为基础的替代办法。 拟议的研究将导致更好地了解地震间的行为，地震成核，和动态破裂传播，是必要的适当的地震灾害规划。

-----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.