Opportunities with Synchrotron Radiation at the Mesoscale

What is mesoscale science? The modifier “meso” can mean different things to different communities. In many areas of science, “mesoscale” generally refers to a middle-ground domain of length, energy, or time where theories accurate at both lower and higher scales fail. In materials science, for example, mesoscale behavior often rises when quantum behavior begins to fade, collective effects become important, or statistical variation and defects appear, often at length scales larger than a few nm. However, for atmospheric scientists and ecologists, mesoscale means miles. For meterologists, mesoscale means hundreds to thousands of miles. The mesoscale arena for cosmologists is many light-years across.