“Dancing with Atoms”: A tribute to Sheila Tinney

Abstract

The authors present a short dynamic visualization titled “Dancing with Atoms”, produced in honor of the late Irish mathematical physicist Sheila Tinney (1918--2010), the first Irish-born and -raised woman to receive a doctorate in the mathematical sciences. The visualization is inspired by Tinney’s ground-breaking work on crystal lattice vibrations and consists of an animation showing an atomic lattice structure vibrating based on data derived from a musical piece performed by her son, award-winning pianist Hugh Tinney. The acoustic signal processing and visualization were conducted using the new Science Foundation Ireland-funded “Tinney” high-performance computing cluster in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.