Modeling a Magnetic Recording Head by Conformal Mapping

Jonathan Marshall

Master of Science in Mathematics (Industrial and Applied), August 2001

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ABSTRACT

The recording process of a computer hard disc drive is enhanced by shielding the read sensor with magnetic material. The introduction of shields defines a magnetostatic problem, based on Maxwell's equations. The technique of Green's functions, in connection with the method of Schwarz-Christoffel mapping, provides the solution to this problem. Newton's method is used to invert the Schwarz-Christoffel mapping. This can be easily implemented computationally.

Research supported by the Minnesota Center for Industrial Mathematics (MCIM) and the National Science Foundation.