A big thank you goes to my supervisors, Prof. Murray Campbell and Prof. Clive Greated for their help and support. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Noam Amir of Tel Aviv University who provided the inspiration for many theoretical aspects of the work. Discussions with Dr. Maarten van Walstijn, Dr. David Sharp and Dr. Jim Buick were also invaluable. I thank Dr. Sarah Sneddon for proof reading.
My office friends and colleagues past and present in the fluids and acoustics
group (known as Susan's gang) deserve a hand. That's Sandra, Seona,
John C
, Calum, Steve, Ted, Mark, Orlando, Maarten, Dave S
., Alan,
Khurom, Jim, Tom, Anthony, Shona, Susan, Scott, Dave F., Dawn, Smir,
John C, Jon, Howard, Craig, Adrian, Dave S., Alix, Arny, and Naz
in order of distance from my desk. Cheers too for the staff of the
School of Physics' electronics and mechanical workshops.
I would like to thank the School of Physics cricket team (E=MCC). Thanks go to the guys from Teannaich ceilidh band: Mark, Andrew, Colin and Mike. Thanks also to Mum, Dad, Joanna, Sarah, Grant and my grandparents.
This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).