Liz graduated from Durham University with her Masters of Mathematics (MMATH) in 2025. The latter half of her degree saw her specialising into Theoretical Physics where Liz completed her final year project on “Gravity as a Double Copy of Gauge Theory”. Having spent two summers working as a civil servant for the Ministry of Defence, the excitement of her master’s project convinced Liz that a PhD was the perfect next step. Liz’s research interests still lie along the physics route, where she hopes to investigate further into statistical physics throughout the SAMBa programme.

Liz’s other loves, besides mathematics, include crochet, camping and baking her own sourdough bread.

Project title:
Vorticity and the Dead Water Phenomenon

Supervisor(s):
Eric Hester, Phil Trinh

Project description:
The dead water phenomenon is the occurrence of unusually high boat drag observed in density-stratified waters. This effect has been known for more than a century, and previous modelling has linked the increased drag to the generation of internal waves supported by the density-stratified water. However, there remains limited theoretical understanding of the effect in more realistic settings. With increasing levels of Arctic
shipping during warmer summers and increased freshwater runoff from melting ice sheets, conditions favourable to dead water may become more common.

This project aims to investigate more realistic models by combining analytical and numerical approaches. Starting from models with the assumption of linearised potential flow, our understanding of the phenomenon will be expanded by progressively working on models with increasing complexity. The longer-term goal is to understand how vorticity affects forces on the boat and the generation of internal waves.