Week of September 17 - 20, 2002
Analysis Seminar
PLEASE NOTE TIME AND DATE CHANGE
Topic: Existence for free boundary problems for fluids using the Nash-Moser technique
Presenter: Hans Lindblad, UC San Diego
Date:
Tuesday, September 17, 2002, Time: 4:00
p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
Statistical Mechanics Seminar
Topic: The ground state of the Bose gas, Part I
Presenter: Elliott Lieb, Princeton University
Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2002, Time: 2:00 p.m., Location: Jadwin 343
Abstract: Some basic facts about the bose gas will be presented. This is the first of several lectures leading up to the proof of Bose-Einstein condensation in trapped gases.
Department Colloquium *** Please note special location
Topic: Numerical characterization of positive cones in Kähler geometry
Presenter: Jean-Pierre Demailly, Grenoble
Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2002, Time: 4:30 p.m., Location: Taplin Auditorium, Fine Hall
Abstract: We will review recent results on the characterization of positive cones, namely the extension of the Nakai-Moishezon criterion to the Kähler cone, and, in the case of projective varieties, the relation between the cone of positive currents and the cone of classes of covering curves. These characterizations lead to some new important facts in view of the classification of projective or compact Kähler manifolds.
Week of September 23 - 27, 2002
PACM Colloquium
Topic: A Computational Approach to Drosophila Development and Transcriptional Control
Presenter: John Reinitz, the University at Stony Brook
Date: Monday, September 23, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Abstract: The central problem in animal development is the generation of body form. This problem was first considered by Aristotle, and in the nineteenth century it was shown that basic body form is determined by interactions among cells in a morphogenetic field. The determination of a morphogenetic field in development involves the expression of genes in spatial patterns. Spatially controlled gene expression cannot as yet be assayed in microarrays, but certain special properties of the fruit fly Drosophila which make it a premier system for developmental genetics also enable it to be used as a naturally grown differential display system for reverse engineering networks of genes. In this system we can approach fundamental scientific questions about development as well as certain computational questions that arise in the analysis of genomic level gene expression data. We approach this problem by constructing dynamical models of the pattern formation process, which can be formulated as systems of ordinary or partial differential equations. These equations are then fit to gene expression data by a large-scale optimization process. Finally, the results are used to gain new insight into the biological system. Each of these components of the work involves computational mathematics, which I will discuss.
Discrete Mathematics Seminar
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Ken-ichi Kawarabayashi, Keio University and Vanderbilt University
Date: Thursday, September 26, 2002, Time: 2:15 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 224
Geometric Analysis Seminar
Topic: Perron's method for second order semilinear wave equations
Presenter: Penelope Smith, Lehigh University
Date: Friday, September 27, 2002, Time: 3:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
PACM Colloquium
Topic: The Level Set Method and Schroedinger's Equation
Presenter: Li-Tien Cheng, University of California, San Diego
Date: Monday, September 30, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Abstract: The level set method has recently been succesfully applied to the construction wavefronts in geometrical optics. We extend the approach here to wavefronts found in Schroedinger's equation as well as other quantities of interest. Advantages such as an Eulerian foundation and the ability to handle multivaluedness are preserved in the extension.
Week of September 30 - October 4, 2002
Department Colloquium
Topic: Compatibility, microgeometry and materials
Presenter: John Ball, Oxford University and IAS
Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2002, Time: 4:30 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
Abstract: Please click here to view abstract
Discrete Mathematics Seminar
Topic: Extremal set-systems with restricted k-wise intersections
Presenter: Benny Sudakov, Princeton University
Date: Thursday, October 3, 2002, Time: 2:15 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 224
Abstract: Please click here to view abstract
Geometric Analysis Seminar
Topic: The Dirichlet problem for minimal surface systems
Presenter: Mu-Tao Wang, Columbia University
Date: Friday, October 4, 2002, Time: 3:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
Week of October 7 - October 11, 2002
PACM Colloquium
Topic: Wave localization and guidance in photonic bandgap structures
Presenter: Fadil Santosa, University of Minnesota
Date: Monday, October 7, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Abstract: Photonic bandgap structures are anticipated to play an important role in the development of devices for optical communication. These nano-structures are made of material with periodic index of refraction. Defects are introduced to guide and manipulate light. In this talk, the speaker will provide an introduction to photonic bandgap structures, and the mathematical tools needed to analyze them. Major ideas are illustrated with numerical examples. Some of the open problems will be described.
Discrete Mathematics Seminar
Topic: TSP cuts that do not follow the template paradigm
Presenter: Vasek Chvatal, Rutgers University
Date: Thursday, October 10, 2002, Time: 2:15 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 224
Abstract: Please click here to view abstract
Geometric Analysis Seminar
Topic: Conformal maps, convex hulls and Kleinian groups
Presenter: Chris Bishop, SUNY at Stony Brook
Date: Friday, October 11, 2002, Time: 3:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
Week of October 14 - October 18, 2002
PACM Colloquium
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Zhilin Li, North Carolina State University
Date: Monday, October 14, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Geometric Analysis Seminar
Topic: On some conformally invariant fully nonlinear equations
Presenter: Yanyan Li, Rutgers University
Date: Friday, October 18, 2002, Time: 3:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
Week of October 21 - October 25, 2002
PACM Colloquium
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Michael Weinstein, Bell Laboratories
Date: Monday, October 21, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Discrete Mathematics Seminar
Topic: Set systems with restricted intersections
Presenter: Jacques Verstraete, Microsoft Research
Date: Thursday, October 24, 2002, Time: 2:15 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 224
Abstract: Please click here to view abstract
Geometric Analysis Seminar
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Simon Brendle, Princeton University
Date: Friday, October 25, 2002, Time: 3:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
Week of November 4 - November 8, 2002
PACM Colloquium
Topic: The Forced van der Pol Equation: New Insights on an Old Problem
Presenter: John Guckenheimer, Cornell University
Date: Monday, November 4, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Abstract: The forced van der Pol equation is the original example of chaos in dynamical systems. It is also an example of relaxation oscillations, periodic motions with short and fast time scales. This lecture describes joint work, primarily with Kathleen Hoffman and Warren Weckesser, to understand bifurcations of dynamical systems with multiple time scales. Using the forced van der Pol equation as a case study, we illustrate how canards - solutions that track unstable slow manifolds - play an important role in both bifurcations and chaos. In many situations canards cannot be computed by solving initial value problems, so many of the phenomena that we exhibit are missed by typical simulation studies of multiscale systems.
Geometric Analysis Seminar
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Hubert Bray, MIT
Date: Friday, November 8, 2002, Time: 3:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
Week of November 11 - November 15, 2002
PACM Colloquium
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Stanley Osher, University of California, Los Angeles
Date: Monday, November 11, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Discrete Mathematics Seminar
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Mike Saks, Rutgers University
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2002, Time: 2:15 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 224
Geometric Analysis Seminar
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Emmanuel Hebey, Université de Cergy-Pontoise
Date: Friday, November 15, 2002, Time: 3:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 314
Week of November 18 - November 22, 2002
PACM Colloquium
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Xiantao Li, PACM, Princeton University
Date: Monday, November 18, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Week of December 2 - December 6, 2002
PACM Colloquium
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Natalia Berloff, University of Cambridge
Date: Monday, December 2, 2002, Time: 4:00 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 214
Discrete Mathematics Seminar
Topic: TBA
Presenter: Peter Winkler, Bell Labs
Date: Thursday, December 5, 2002, Time: 2:15 p.m., Location: Fine Hall 224