Previous work
Prior to beginning my PhD in 2013, I held the role of Public Outreach and Science Visualization Specialist for The University of California High-Performance AstroComputing Center (UC-HiPACC). This section documents some of the projects that I completed during that time, as well as some illustration work done prior to that.
Thesis Projects
The two following projects were completed as part of my undergraduate senior thesis, “Presenting Fundamental Concepts in Physics to the General Public Through Visual Representation.”
A Little Bit of Quantum Mechanics. 2009
The following animation presents the first order perturbations of an electron in an infinite square well caused by the absorption of electromagnetic radiation.Created in 2009 as part of my senior thesis in Applied Physics from UCSC.
Credits: Animation & narration by Nina McCurdy, Music by Angela Hewitt – Bach (JS): Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 – Aria . A special thanks to my senior thesis advisor, Zack Schlesinger
Visualizations of Dark Matter
Bolshoi vs. SDSS galaxy distribution
The distribution of galaxies observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (left) and predicted by the Bolshoi Simulation.
Credit: Nina McCurdy and Joel Primack/University of California, Santa Cruz; Ralf Kaehler and Risa Wechsler/Stanford University; Sloan Digital Sky Survey; Michael Busha/University of Zurich
Dark Matter Halo test. 2011
This is a visualization of a 10x10x10 Mpc/h (~45 Million lyrs) cube of the final timestep of the Constrained Local UniversE Simulation (CLUES). Visualized in Maya.
Vis: N. McCurdy, C. Henze
Simulation: The CLUES Team
Gravitational Collapse Test 1. 2012
This visualization shows the gravitational collapse of dark matter particles into a halo. Visualized in Maya. Vis: N. McCurdy. Simulation: Gadget-2 Cluster example.
A Study on Eternal Inflation
Eternal Inflation v4
This visualization models the Theory of Eternal Inflation which states that ours is only one of possibly infinite universes, nucleating and expanding within an also expanding medium of “inflation”.
Visualized in Maya. Vis: N. McCurdy, A. Aguirre, J. Primack
Eternal Inflation – 3D Fluid Texture Mapping. Visualized in Maya. N. McCurdy, A. Aguirre, J. Primack
Posters
Selected Illustrations
