14:30
Complex spatial patterns such as superlattice patterns and quasipatterns occur in a variety of physical systems ranging from vibrated fluid layers to crystallising soft matter. Reduced order models that describe such systems are usually PDEs. Close to a phase transition, modal expansion along with perturbation methods can be applied to convert the PDEs to normal form equations in the form of coupled ODEs. I use equivariant bifurcation theory along with homotopy methods (developed in computational algebraic geometry) to obtain all solutions of the normal form equations in a non-iterative method. I want to talk about how this approach allows us to ask new questions about the physical systems of interest and what extensions to this method might be possible. This forms a step in my long-term interest to explore how to better ‘complete’ a bifurcation diagram!