Forthcoming events in this series

Thu, 27 Apr 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Using ideas from statistics for analysing (spatio-temporal) stochastic processes

David Schnoerr
(University of Edinburgh)
Abstract

Many systems in nature consist of stochastically interacting agents or particles. Stochastic processes have been widely used to model such systems, yet they are notoriously difficult to analyse. In this talk I will show how ideas from statistics can be used to tackle some challenging problems in the field of stochastic processes.

In the first part, I will consider the problem of inference from experimental data for stochastic reaction-diffusion processes. I will show that multi-time distributions of such processes can be approximated by spatio-temporal Cox processes, a well-studied class of models from computational statistics. The resulting approximation allows us to naturally define an approximate likelihood, which can be efficiently optimised with respect to the kinetic parameters of the model.

In the second part, we consider more general path properties of a certain class of stochastic processes. Specifically, we consider the problem of computing first-passage times for Markov jump processes, which are used to describe systems where the spatial locations of particles can be ignored.  I will show that this important class of generally intractable problems can be exactly recast in terms of a Bayesian inference problem by introducing auxiliary observations. This leads us to derive an efficient approximation scheme to compute first-passage time distributions by solving a small, closed set of ordinary differential equations.

Thu, 09 Mar 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Octupolar Order Tensors

Epifanio Virga
(University of Pavia)
Abstract

In Soft Matter, octupolar order is not just an exotic mathematical curio. Liquid crystals have already provided a noticeable case of soft ordered materials for which a (second-rank) quadrupolar order tensor may not suffice to capture the complexity of the condensed phases they can exhibit. This lecture will discuss the properties of a third-rank order tensor capable of describing these more complex phases. In particular, it will be shown that octupolar order tensors come in two separate, equally abundant variants. This fact, which will be given a simple geometric interpretation, anticipates the possible existence of two distinct octupolar sub-phases.

Thu, 02 Mar 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Bubble Dynamics, Self-assembly of a filament by curvature-inducing proteins

Robert van Gorder, James Kwiecinski
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

Bubble Dynamics

We shall discuss certain generalisations of the Rayleigh Plesset equation for bubble dynamics

Self-assembly of a filament by curvature-inducing proteins

We explore a simplified macroscopic model of membrane shaping by means of curvature-sensing proteins. Equations describing the interplay between the shape of a freely floating filament in a fluid and the adhesion kinetics of proteins are derived from mechanical principles. The constant curvature solutions that arise from this system are studied using weakly nonlinear analysis. We show that the stability of the filament’s shape is completely characterized by the parameters associated with protein recruitment and establish that in the bistable regime, proteins aggregate on the filament forming regions of high and low curvatures. This pattern formation is then followed by phase-coarsening that resolves on a time-scale dependent on protein diffusion and drift across the filament, which contend to smooth and maintain the pattern respectively. The model is generalized for multiple species of proteins and we show that the stability of the assembled shape is determined by a competition between proteins attaching on opposing sides.

Thu, 16 Feb 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### PDE techniques for network problems

Yves Van Gennip
(University of Nottingham)
Abstract

In recent years, ideas from the world of partial differential equations (PDEs) have found their way into the arena of graph and network problems. In this talk I will discuss how techniques based on nonlinear PDE models, such as the Allen-Cahn equation and the Merriman-Bence-Osher threshold dynamics scheme can be used to (approximately) detect particular structures in graphs, such as densely connected subgraphs (clustering and classification, minimum cuts) and bipartite subgraphs (maximum cuts). Such techniques not only often lead to fast algorithms that can be applied to large networks, but also pose interesting theoretical questions about the relationships between the graph models and their continuum counterparts, and about connections between the different graph models.

Thu, 09 Feb 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Computational Immunology: What happens when a computer scientist falls in love with immunology

Soumya Banerjee
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

The immune system finds very rare amounts of pathogens and responds against them in a timely and efficient manner. The time to find and respond against pathogens does not vary appreciably with the size of the host animal (scale invariant search and response). This is surprising since the search and response against pathogens is harder in larger animals.

The first part of the talk will focus on using techniques from computer science to solve problems in immunology, specifically how the immune system achieves scale invariant search and response. I use machine learning techniques, ordinary differential equation models and spatially explicit agent based models to understand the dynamics of the immune system. I will talk about Hierarchical Bayesian non-linear mixed effects models to simulate immune response in different species.

The second part of the talk will focus on taking inspiration from the immune system to solve problems in computer science. I will talk about a model that describes the optimal architecture of the immune system and then show how architectures and strategies inspired by the immune system can be used to create distributed systems with faster search and response characteristics.

I argue that techniques from computer science can be applied to the immune system and that the immune system can provide valuable inspiration for robust computing in human engineered distributed systems.

Thu, 02 Feb 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### What makes cities successful? A complex systems approach to modelling urban economies / Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations for dynamic pricing

Neave O'Clery, Asbjorn Nilsen Riseth
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

What makes cities successful? A complex systems approach to modelling urban economies

Urban centres draw a diverse range of people, attracted by opportunity, amenities, and the energy of crowds. Yet, while benefiting from density and proximity of people, cities also suffer from issues surrounding crime, congestion and density. Seeking to uncover the mechanisms behind the success of cities using novel tools from the mathematical and data sciences, this work uses network techniques to model the opportunity landscape of cities. Under the theory that cities move into new economic activities that share inputs with existing capabilities, path dependent industrial diversification can be described using a network of industries. Edges represent shared necessary capabilities, and are empirically estimated via flows of workers moving between industries. The position of a city in this network (i.e., the subnetwork of its current industries) will determine its future diversification potential. A city located in a central well-connected region has many options, but one with only few peripheral industries has limited opportunities.

We develop this framework to explain the large variation in labour formality rates across cities in the developing world, using data from Colombia. We show that, as cities become larger, they move into increasingly complex industries as firms combine complementary capabilities derived from a more diverse pool of workers. We further show that a level of agglomeration equivalent to between 45 and 75 minutes of commuting time maximizes the ability of cities to generate formal employment using the variety of skills available. Our results suggest that rather than discouraging the expansion of metropolitan areas, cities should invest in transportation to enable firms to take advantage of urban diversity.

This talk will be based on joint work with Eduardo Lora and Andres Gomez at Harvard University.

Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations for dynamic pricing

I will discuss the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation, which is a nonlinear, second-order, terminal value PDE problem. The equation arises in optimal control theory as an optimality condition.

Consider a dynamic pricing problem: over a given period, what is the best strategy to maximise revenues and minimise the cost of unsold items?

This is formulated as a stochastic control problem in continuous time, where we try to find a function that controls a stochastic differential equation based on the current state of the system.

The optimal control function can be found by solving the corresponding HJB equation.

I will present the solution of the HJB equation using a toy problem, for a risk-neutral and a risk-averse decision maker.

Thu, 26 Jan 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Flux-dependent graphs for metabolic networks

Mariano Beguerisse Díaz
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

Cells adapt their metabolic state in response to changes in the environment.  I will present a systematic framework for the construction of flux graphs to represent organism-wide metabolic networks.  These graphs encode the directionality of metabolic fluxes via links that represent the flow of metabolites from source to target reactions.  The weights of the links have a precise interpretation in terms of probabilities or metabolite flow per unit time. The methodology can be applied both in the absence of a specific biological context, or tailored to different environmental conditions by incorporating flux distributions computed from constraint-based modelling (e.g., Flux-Balance Analysis). I will illustrate the approach on the central carbon metabolism of Escherichia coli, revealing drastic changes in the topological and community structure of the metabolic graphs, which capture the re-routing of metabolic fluxes under each growth condition.

By integrating Flux Balance Analysis and tools from network science, our framework allows for the interrogation of environment-specific metabolic responses beyond fixed, standard pathway descriptions.

Thu, 19 Jan 2017

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Networks and Function

Mike Field
(Imperial College London)
Abstract

Averaging, either spatial or temporal, is a powerful technique in complex multi-scale systems.

However, in some situations it can be difficult to justify.

For example, many real-world networks in technology, engineering and biology have a function and exhibit dynamics that cannot always be adequately reproduced using network models given by the smooth dynamical systems and fixed network topology that typically result from averaging. Motivated by examples from neuroscience and engineering, we describe a model for what we call a "functional asynchronous network". The model allows for changes in network topology through decoupling of nodes and stopping and restarting of nodes, local times, adaptivity and control. Our long-term goal is to obtain an understanding of structure (why the network works) and how function is optimized (through bifurcation).

We describe a prototypical theorem that yields a functional decomposition for a large class of functional asynchronous networks. The result allows us to express the function of a dynamical network in terms of individual nodes and constituent subnetworks.

Thu, 08 Dec 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L2

### Catastrophic Buckling Behavior of Shell Structures: A Brief History Followed by New Experiments and Theory on Spherical Shells

John Hutchinson
(Harvard University)
Abstract

The stability of structures continues to be scientifically fascinating and technically important.  Shell buckling emerged as one of the most challenging nonlinear problems in mechanics more than fifty years ago when it was intensively studied.  It has returned to life with new challenges motivated not only by structural applications but also by developments in the life sciences and in soft materials.  It is not at all uncommon for slightly imperfect thin cylindrical shells under axial compression or spherical shells under external pressure to buckle at 20% of the buckling load of the perfect shell.  A historical overview of shell buckling will be presented followed by a discussion of recent work by the speaker and his collaborators on the buckling of spherical shells.  Experimental and theoretical work will be described with a focus on imperfection-sensitivity and on viewing the phenomena within the larger context of nonlinear stability.

Thu, 01 Dec 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Asymptotic and Numerical Analysis of Carrier's Problem

Jon Chapman, Patrick Farrell
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

A computational and asymptotic analysis of the solutions of Carrier's problem  is presented. The computations reveal a striking and beautiful bifurcation diagram, with an infinite sequence of alternating pitchfork and fold bifurcations as the bifurcation parameter tends to zero. The method of Kuzmak is then applied to construct asymptotic solutions to the problem. This asymptotic approach explains the bifurcation structure identified numerically, and its predictions of the bifurcation points are in excellent agreement with the numerical results. The analysis yields a novel and complete taxonomy of the solutions to the problem, and demonstrates that a claim of Bender & Orszag is incorrect.

Thu, 24 Nov 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### An engineer's dive into Oxford Applied Maths, and becoming faculty at a Medical School

Athanasios Tsanas
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

In this talk, I am reflecting on the last 8 extremely enjoyable years I spent in the department (DPhil, OCIAM, 2008-2012, post-doc, WCMB, 2012-2016). My story is a little unusual: coming from an Engineering undergraduate background, spending 8 years in the Maths department, and now moving to a faculty position at the Medical School. However, I think it highlights well the enormous breadth and applicability of mathematics beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. I will discuss different projects during my time in Oxford, focusing on time-series, signal processing, and statistical machine learning methods, with diverse applications in real-world problems.

Thu, 17 Nov 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Modelling Anti-Surfactants and Thixotropic Lubrication

Stephen Wilson
(University of Strathclyde)
Abstract

In the first part of the talk, I will describe a fluid-dynamical model for a "anti-surfactant" solution (such as salt dissolved in water) whose surface tension is an increasing function of bulk solvent concentration. In particular, I will show that this model is consistent with the standard model for surfactants, and predicts a novel instability for anti-surfactants not present for surfactants. Some further details are given in the recent paper by Conn et al. Phys. Rev. E 93 043121 (2016).

In the second part of the talk, I will formulate and analyse the governing equations for the flow of a thixotropic or antithixotropic fluid in a slowly varying channel. These equations are equivalent to the equations of classical lubrication theory for a Newtonian fluid, but incorporate the evolving microstructure of the fluid, described in terms of a scalar structure parameter. If time permits, I will seek draw some conclusions relevant to thixotropic flow in porous media. Some further details are given in the forthcoming paper by Pritchard et al. to appear in J Non-Newt. Fluid Mech (2016).

Thu, 10 Nov 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Ousman Kodio, Edward Rolls

OCIAM Group Meeting
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

Ousman Kodio

Lubricated wrinkles: imposed constraints affect the dynamics of wrinkle coarsening

We investigate the problem of an elastic beam above a thin viscous layer. The beam is subjected to
a fixed end-to-end displacement, which will ultimately cause it to adopt the Euler-buckled
state. However, additional liquid must be drawn in to allow this buckling. In the interim, the beam
forms a wrinkled state with wrinkles coarsening over time. This problem has been studied
experimentally by Vandeparre \textit{et al.~Soft Matter} (2010), who provides a scaling argument
suggesting that the wavelength, $\lambda$, of the wrinkles grows according to $\lambda\sim t^{1/6}$.
However, a more detailed theoretical analysis shows that, in fact, $\lambda\sim(t/\log t)^{1/6}$.
We present numerical results to confirm this and show that this result provides a better account of
previous experiments.

Edward Rolls

Multiscale modelling of polymer dynamics: applications to DNA

We are interested in generalising existing polymer dynamics models which are applicable to DNA into multiscale models. We do this by simulating localized regions of a polymer chain with high spatial and temporal resolution, while using a coarser modelling approach to describe the rest of the polymer chain in order to increase computational speeds. The simulation maintains key macroscale properties for the entire polymer. We study the Rouse model, which describes a polymer chain of beads connected by springs by developing a numerical scheme which considers the a filament with varying spring constants as well as different timesteps to advance the positions of different beads, in order to extend the Rouse model to a multiscale model. This is applied directly to a binding model of a protein to a DNA filament. We will also discuss other polymer models and how it might be possible to introduce multiscale modelling to them.

Thu, 03 Nov 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Numerical Analysis meets Topology

Henry Schenck
(University of Illinois)
Abstract

One of the fundamental tools in numerical analysis and PDE
is the finite element method (FEM). A main ingredient in
FEM are splines: piecewise polynomial functions on a
mesh. Even for a fixed mesh in the plane, there are many open
questions about splines: for a triangular mesh T and
smoothness order one, the dimension of the vector space
C^1_3(T) of splines of polynomial degree at most three
is unknown. In 1973, Gil Strang conjectured a formula
for the dimension of the space C^1_2(T) in terms of the
combinatorics and geometry of the mesh T, and in 1987 Lou
Billera used algebraic topology to prove the conjecture
(and win the Fulkerson prize). I'll describe recent progress
on the study of spline spaces, including a quick and self
contained introduction to some basic but quite useful tools
from topology.

Thu, 27 Oct 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Multi-phase flows with contact lines: solid vs liquid substrates

Dirk Peschka
(Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics)
Abstract

The study of moving contact lines is challenging for various reasons: Physically no sliding motion is allowed with a standard no-slip boundary condition over a solid substrate. Mathematically one has to deal with a free-boundary problem which contains certain singularities at the contact line. Instabilities can lead to topological transition in configurations space - their rigorous mathematical understanding is highly non-trivial. In this talk some state-of-the-art modeling and numerical techniques for such challenges will be presented. These will be applied to flows over solid and liquid substrates, where we perform detailed comparisons with experiments.

Thu, 20 Oct 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### From the Molecular to the Reactor Scale with Accurate and Efficient Computational Frameworks for Reaction Kinetics

Michail Stamatakis
(UCL)
Abstract

Modelling catalytic kinetics is indispensable for the design of reactors and chemical processes. However, developing accurate and computationally efficient kinetic models remains challenging. Empirical kinetic models incorporate assumptions about rate-limiting steps and may thus not be applicable to operating regimes far from those where they were derived. Detailed microkinetic modelling approaches overcome this issue by accounting for all elementary steps of a reaction mechanism. However, the majority of such kinetic models employ mean-field approximations and are formulated as ordinary differential equations, which neglect spatial correlations. On the other hand, kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) approaches provide a discrete-space continuous-time stochastic formulation that enables a detailed treatment of spatial correlations in the adlayer (resulting for instance from adsorbate-adsorbate lateral interactions), but at a significant computation expense.1,2

Motivated by these challenges, we discuss the necessity of KMC descriptions that incorporate detailed models of lateral interactions. Focusing on a titration experiment involving the oxidation of pre-adsorbed O by CO gas on Pd(111), we discuss experimental findings that show first order kinetics at low temperature (190 K) and half order kinetics at high temperature (320 K), the latter previously attributed to island formation.3 We perform KMC simulations whereby coverage effects on reaction barriers are captured by cluster expansion Hamiltonians and Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi (BEP) relations.4 By quantifying the effect of adlayer structure versus coverage effects on the observed kinetics, we rationalise the experimentally observed kinetics. We show that coverage effects lead to the half order kinetics at 320 K, rather than O-island formation as previously thought.5,6

Subsequently, we discuss our ongoing work in the development of approximations that capture such coverage effects but are much more computationally efficient than KMC, making it possible to use such models in reactor design. We focus on a model for NO oxidation incorporating first nearest neighbour lateral interactions and construct a sequence of approximations of progressively higher accuracy, starting from the mean-field treatment and continuing with a sequence of Bethe-Peierls models with increasing cluster sizes. By comparing the turnover frequencies of these models with those obtained from KMC simulation, we show that the mean-field predictions deviate by several orders of magnitude from the KMC results, whereas the Bethe-Peierls models exhibit progressively higher accuracy as the size of the explicitly treated cluster increases. While more computationally intensive than mean-field, these models still enable significant computational savings compared to a KMC simulation, thereby paving the road for employing them in multiscale modelling frameworks.

References

1    M. Stamatakis and D. G. Vlachos, ACS Catal. 2 (12), 2648 (2012).

2    M. Stamatakis, J Phys-Condens Mat 27 (1), 013001 (2015).

3    I. Nakai, H. Kondoh, T. Shimada, A. Resta, J. N. Andersen, and T. Ohta, J. Chem. Phys. 124 (22), 224712 (2006).

4    J. Nielsen, M. d’Avezac, J. Hetherington, and M. Stamatakis, J. Chem. Phys. 139 (22), 224706 (2013).

5    M. Stamatakis and S. Piccinin, ACS Catal. 6 (3), 2105 (2016).

6    S. Piccinin and M. Stamatakis, ACS Catal. 4, 2143 (2014).

Thu, 13 Oct 2016

16:00 - 17:30
L3

### OCIAM Group Meeting

(University of Oxford)
Abstract

Graham Benham

The Fluid Mechanics of Low-Head Hydropower Illuminated by Particle Image Velocimetry

We study a new type of hydropower which is cost-effective in rivers and tides where there are small pressure drops. The concept goes as follows: The cost of water turbines scales with the flow rate they deal with.  Therefore, in order to render this hydropower desirable, we make use of the Venturi principle, a natural fluid mechanical gear system which involves splitting the flow into two streams. The turbine deals with a small fraction of the flow at slow speed and high pressure, whilst the majority avoids the turbine, going at high speed and low pressure. Now the turbine feels an amplified pressure drop, thus maintaining its power output, whilst becoming much cheaper. But it turns out that the efficiency of the whole system depends strongly on the way in which these streams mix back together again.

Here we discuss some new experimental results and compare them to a simplified mathematical model for the mixing of these streams. The experimental results were achieved using particle image velocimetry (PIV), which is a type of flow visualisation. Using a laser sheet and a high speed camera, we are able to capture flow velocity fields at high resolution. Pressure measurements were also taken. The mathematical model is derived from the Navier Stokes equations using boundary layer theory alongside a flow-averaging method and reduces the problem to solving a set of ODE’s for the bulk components of the flow.

Asymptotic Analysis of a Multiphase Drying Model Motivated by Coffee Bean Roasting

Recent modelling of coffee bean roasting suggests that in the early stages of roasting, within each coffee bean, there are two emergent regions: a dried outer region and a saturated interior region. The two regions are separated by a transition layer (or drying front). In this talk, we consider the asymptotic analysis of a multiphase model of this roasting process which was recently put forth and studied numerically, in order to gain a better understanding of its salient features. The model consists of a PDE system governing the thermal, moisture, and gas pressure profiles throughout the interior of the bean. Obtaining asymptotic expansions for these quantities in relevant limits of the physical parameters, we are able to determine the qualitative behaviour of the outer and interior regions, as well as the dynamics of the drying front. Although a number of simplifications and scaling are used, we take care not to discard aspects of the model which are fundamental to the roasting process. Indeed, we find that for all of the asymptotic limits considered, our approximate solutions faithfully reproduce the qualitative features evident from numerical simulations of the full model. From these asymptotic results we have a better qualitative understanding of the drying front (which is hard to resolve precisely in numerical simulations), and hence of the various mechanisms at play as heating, evaporation, and pressure changes result in a roasted bean. This qualitative understanding of solutions to the multiphase model is essential if one is to create more involved models that incorporate chemical reactions and solid mechanics effects.

Thu, 16 Jun 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Sensing human behaviour with online data

Suzy Moat
(Warwick)
Abstract

Our everyday usage of the Internet generates huge amounts of data on how humans collect and exchange information worldwide. In this talk, I will outline recent work in which we investigate whether data from sources such as Google, Wikipedia and Flickr can be used to gain new insight into real world human behaviour. I will provide case studies from a range of domains, including disease detection, crowd size estimation, and evaluating whether the beauty of the environment we live in might affect our health.

Thu, 09 Jun 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L1

### IAM Group Meeting

Javier Buldu, Dave Hewett
Abstract

Dave Hewett: Canonical solutions in wave scattering

By a "canonical solution" I have in mind a closed-form exact solution of the scalar wave equation in a simple geometry, for example the exterior of a circular cylinder, or the exterior of an infinite wedge. In this talk I hope to convince you that the study of such problems is (a) interesting; (b) important; and (c) a rich source of (difficult) open problems involving eigenfunction expansions, special functions, the asymptotic evaluation of integrals, and matched asymptotic expansions.

Thu, 02 Jun 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### The spreading of a surfactant-laden drop down an inclined and pre-wetted substrate - Numerics, Asymptotics and Linear Stability Analysis

Shailesh Naire
(Keele)
Abstract

Surfactants are chemicals that adsorb onto the air-liquid interface and lower the surface tension there. Non-uniformities in surfactant concentration result in surface tension gradients leading to a surface shear stress, known as a Marangoni stress. This stress, if sufficiently large, can influence the flow at the interface.

Surfactants are ubiquitous in many aspects of technology and industry to control the wetting properties of liquids due to  their ability to modify surface tension. They are used in detergents, crop spraying, coating processes and oil recovery. Surfactants also occur naturally, for example in the mammalian lung. They reduce the surface tension within the liquid lining the airways, which assists in preventing the collapse of the smaller airways. In the lungs of premature infants, the quantity of surfactant produced is insufficient as the lungs are under- developed. This leads to a respiratory distress syndrome which is treated by Surfactant Replacement Therapy.

Motivated by this medical application, we theoretically investigate a model problem involving the spreading of a drop laden with an insoluble surfactant down an inclined and pre-wetted substrate.  Our focus is in understanding the mechanisms behind a “fingering” instability observed experimentally during the spreading process. High-resolution numerics reveal a multi-region asymptotic wave-like structure of the spreading droplet. Approximate solutions for each region is then derived using asymptotic analysis. In particular, a quasi-steady similarity solution is obtained for the leading edge of the droplet. A linear stability analysis of this region shows that the base state is linearly unstable to long-wavelength perturbations. The Marangoni effect is shown to be the dominant driving mechanism behind this instability at small wavenumbers. A small wavenumber stability criterion is derived and it's implication on the onset of the fingering instability will be discussed.

Thu, 26 May 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### IAM Group Meeting

Mason Porter, Robert Van Gorder
Abstract

A Simple Generative Model of Collective Online Behavior (Mason Porter)

Human activities increasingly take place in online environments, providing novel opportunities for relating individual behaviors to population-level outcomes. In this paper, we introduce a simple generative model for the collective behavior of millions of social networking site users who are deciding between different software applications. Our model incorporates two distinct mechanisms: one is associated with recent decisions of users, and the other reflects the cumulative popularity of each application. Importantly, although various combinations of the two mechanisms yield long-time behav- ior that is consistent with data, the only models that reproduce the observed temporal dynamics are those that strongly emphasize the recent popularity of applications over their cumulative popularity.

This demonstrates --- even when using purely observational data with- out experimental design --- that temporal data-driven modeling can effectively distinguish between competing microscopic mechanisms, allowing us to uncover previously unidentified aspects of collective online behavior.

---

Bubbles, Turing machines, and possible routes to Navier-Stokes blow-up (Robert van Gorder)

Navier-Stokes existence and regularity in three spatial dimensions for an incompressible fluid... is hard. Indeed, while the original equations date back to the 1840's, existence and regularity remains an open problem and is one of the six remaining Millennium Prize Problems in mathematics that were stated by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000. Despite the difficulty, a resolution to this problem may say little about real-world fluids, as many real fluid problems do not seem to blow-up, anyway.
In this talk, we shall briefly outline the mathematical problem, although our focus shall be on the negative direction; in particular, we focus on the possibility of blow-up solutions. We show that many existing blow-up solutions require infinite energy initially, which is unreasonable. Therefore, obtaining a blow-up solution that starts out with nice properties such as bounded energy on three dimensional Euclidean space is rather challenging. However, if we modify the problem, there are some results. We survey recent results on averaged Navier-Stokes equations and compressible Navier-Stokes equations, and this will take us anywhere from bubbles to fluid Turing machines. We discuss how such results might give insight into the loss of regularity in the incompressible case (or, insight into how hard it might be to loose regularity of solutions when starting with finite energy in the incompressible case), before philosophizing about whether mathematical blow-up solutions could ever be physically relevant.

Thu, 19 May 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Formulating short-range elastic interactions between dislocations in a continuum framework

Yichao Zhu
(Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
Abstract

Permanent deformations of crystalline materials are known to be carried out by a large
number of atomistic line defects, i.e. dislocations. For specimens on micron scales or above, it
is more computationally tractable to investigate macroscopic material properties based on the
evolution of underlying dislocation densities. However, classical models of dislocation
continua struggle to resolve short-range elastic interactions of dislocations, which are believed
responsible for the formation of various heterogeneous dislocation substructures in crystals. In
this talk, we start with discussion on formulating the collective behaviour of a row of
dislocation dipoles, which would be considered equivalent to a dislocation-free state in
classical continuum models. It is shown that the underlying discrete dislocation dynamics can
be asymptotically captured by a set of evolution equations for dislocation densities along with
a set of equilibrium equations for variables characterising the self-sustained dislocation
substructures residing on a shorter length scale, and the strength of the dislocation
substructures is associated with the solvability conditions of their governing equilibrium
equations. Under the same strategy, a (continuum) flow stress formula for multi-slip systems
is also derived, and the formula resolves more details from the underlying dynamics than the

Thu, 12 May 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Cancelled - Mathematical Problems within the Analysis of Transport Data

Eddie Wilson
(University of Bristol)
Abstract

My main purpose in this talk is try and convey a sense of my enthusiasm for mathematical modelling generally and how I've come to use it in a range of transport applications. For concreteness, I am going to talk in particular about work I have been doing on EPSRC grant EP/K000438/1 (PI: Jillian Anable, Aberdeen) where we are using the UK government's Department for Transport MOT data to estimate mileage totals and study how they are broken down across the population in various different ways. Embedded inside this practical problem is a whole set of miniature mathematical puzzles and challenges which are quite particular to the problem area itself, and one wider question which is rather deeper and more general: whether it is possible (and how) to convert usage data that is low-resolution in time but high-resolution in individuals to knowledge that is high-resolution in time but only expressed at a population level.

Thu, 05 May 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Singular asymptotics of surface-plasmon resonance

Ory Schnitzer
(Imperial College London)
Abstract

Surface plasmons are collective electron-density oscillations at a metal-dielectric interface. In particular, highly localised surface-plasmon modes of nanometallic structures with narrow nonmetallic gaps, which enable a tuneable resonance frequency and a giant near-field enhancement, are at the heart of numerous nanophotonics applications. In this work, we elucidate the singular near-contact asymptotics of the plasmonic eigenvalue problem governing the resonant frequencies and modes of such structures. In the classical regime, valid for gap widths > 1nm, we find a generic scaling describing the redshift of the resonance frequency as the gap width is reduced, and in several prototypical dimer configurations derive explicit expressions for the plasmonic eigenvalues and eigenmodes using matched asymptotic expansions; we also derive expressions describing the resonant excitation of such modes by light based on a weak-dissipation limit. In the subnanometric nonlocal’’ regime, we show intuitively and by systematic analysis of the hydrodynamic Drude model that nonlocality manifests itself as a potential discontinuity, and in the near-contact limit equivalently as a widening of the gap. We thereby find the near-contact asymptotics as a renormalisation of the local asymptotics, and in particular a lower bound on plasmon frequency, scaling with the 1/4 power of the Fermi wavelength. Joint work with Vincenzo Giannini, Richard V. Craster and Stefan A. Maier.

Thu, 28 Apr 2016

16:00 - 17:00
L3

### Mathematics and Molecular Biology: The Engineering Approach

Bob Eisenberg
(Rush University)
Abstract

Life is different because it is inherited. All life comes from a blueprint (genes) that can only make proteins. Proteins are studied by more than one hundred thousand scientists and physicians every day because they are so important in health and disease. The function of proteins is on the macroscopic scale, but atomic details control that function, as is shown in a multitude of experiments. The structure of proteins is so important that governments spend billions studying them. Structures are known in exquisite detail determined by crystallographic measurement of more than 105 different proteins. But the forces that govern the movement and function of proteins are not visible in the structure. Mathematics is needed to compute both function and forces so comparison with experiment can be made. Experiments report numbers, typically sets of numbers in the form of graphs. Verbal models, however beautifully written in the biological tradition, do not provide numerical outputs, and so it is difficult to tell which verbal model better fits data.

The mathematics of molecular biology must be multiscale because atomic details control macroscopic function. The device approach of the engineering and English physiological tradition provides the dimensional reduction needed to solve the multiscale problem. Mathematical analysis of hundreds of experiments (reported in some fifty papers) has been successful in showing how some properties of an important class of proteins—ion channels— work. Ion channels are natural nanovalves as important to animals as Field Effect Transistors (FETs) are to computers. I will present the Fermi Poisson approach started by Jinn Liang Liu. The Fermi distribution is used to describe the saturation of space produced by crowded spherical ions. The Poisson equation (and continuity of current) is used to describe long range electrodynamics. Short range correlations are approximated by the Santangelo equation. A fully consistent mathematical description reproduces macroscopic properties of bulk solutions of sodium and calcium chloride solutions. It also describes several different channels (with quite different atomic detailed structures) quite well in a wide range of conditions using a handful of parameters never changed. It is not clear why the model works as well it does, nor is it clear how well the model will work on other channels, transporters or proteins.