The College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series Presents: "Bumblebees, Cracks and Nonlocal Calculus," presented by Dr. Qiang Du, Fu Foundation Professor of Applied Mathematics, Columbia University.
November 18th, 2015 at 6:00 PM
The flying patterns of bumblebees are intriguing to ecologists, while the propagating paths of cracks in materials are serious concerns of engineers. Mathematical models have been developed in these different fields for decades with little connections being drawn in between. Some recent development is leading to a common mathematical framework that can be used to model and analyze these different phenomena. We will discuss some basic elements of this emerging framework that focuses on nonlocal interactions and nonlocal balance laws. The story serves as an illustration of how training in mathematical modeling and scientific computing are becoming increasingly useful to future generations of scientists and engineers.
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