TSVP Talk: "Nonlinear Waves and their Applications: From Oceans to Planets, From Lasers to Quantum Fluids, From Origami to Pandemics" by Panayotis Kevrekidis

Title: Nonlinear Waves and Their Applications: From Oceans to Planets, From Lasers to Quantum Fluids,
From Origami to Pandemics

Speaker: Panayotis Kevrekidis, Distinguished University Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Abstract: In this talk, I will explore a number of ideas about nonlinear waves and their implications to a diverse array of fields: from mathematics to physics, engineering, computing, biology, and even (a little) art. I will begin with some history from 18th and 19th century fluid waves in channels and oceans, associated engineering observations, and artistic renderings. Next, I will share an intriguing story of (non) equity and inclusion around the first computer in post-atomic-bomb Los Alamos National Lab. The presentation will then pass through some Nobel Prize winning physical ideas related to the laser, quantum fluids, and some of their recent variations pursued experimentally including at Amherst. Finally, we will touch upon how in the past few years such wave phenomena have emerged in exotic materials, such as lattices made of origami elements, and how they have been leveraged toward studying the spread of pandemic infections.

Profile: Professor Kevrekidis studies a variety of systems stemming from the mathematical physics of nonlinear optical systems, of crystalline materials, as well as from the ultracold atomic setting of Bose-Einstein Condensates. The research mainly revolves around the existence, stability and dynamics of localized (solitary wave) structures in such one-, two- and three-dimensional setups, often described by equations of Nonlinear Schrodinger or Klein-Gordon type. Besides this main thrust of research Professor Kevrekidis also maintains a wide variety of additional modeling interests including mathematical biology [especially tumor angiogenesis, nephron dynamics and DNA models], simple cosmological models, the nucleation of liquid droplets, phase transition phenomena, catalytic chemistry and associated reaction-diffusion models, and dynamics and energy landscapes of glassy materials among others.
Kevrekidis is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Ioannina, Greece (2023), and has been elected in 2024 as a member of the European Academy for Sciences and the Arts (EASA).

Language: English

Target audience: General audience/everyone at OIST and beyond.
Freely accessible to all OIST members and guests without registration.

This talk will also be broadcast online via Zoom:
Meeting ID: 983 0354 8042
Passcode: 297345

※ Please note that this event may be recorded and the videos uploaded. In addition, photos may be taken during the event. These are intended for publication online (the OIST website, social media, etc.)※