Past

Struggling for ideas at the weekends? Learn how to draw with colour and discover the creation of colour from our natural environment. Have a go at making your own natural paint colours. Create your own mini planet inspired by alchemy and the Radcliffe Observatory. Paint making demonstrations throughout the day with artist Nabil Al. All materials provided. Suitable for all ages from 6 to 60. Invite your friends.

We will present results from studies of the impact of the non-slow (typically fast) components of a rotating, stratified flow on its slow dynamics. We work in the framework of fast singular limits that derives from the work of Bogoliubov and Mitropolsky [1961], Klainerman and Majda [1981], Shochet [1994], Embid and Ma- jda [1996] and others.

In order to understand how the flow approaches and interacts with the slow dynamics we decompose the full solution, where u is a vector of all the unknowns, as

u = u α + u ′α where α represents the Ro → 0, F r → 0 or the simultaneous limit of both (QG for

quasi-geostrophy), with

P α u α = u α    P α u ′α = 0 ,

and where Pαu represents the projection of the full solution onto the null space of the fast operator. We use this decomposition to find evolution equations for the components of the flow (and the corresponding energy) on and off the slow manifold.

Numerical simulations indicate that for the geometry considered (triply periodic) and the type of forcing applied, the fast waves act as a conduit, moving energy onto the slow manifold. This decomposition clarifies how the energy is exchanged when either the stratification or the rotation is weak. In the quasi-geostrophic limit the energetics are less clear, however it is observed that the energy off the slow manifold equilibrates to a quasi-steady value.

We will also discuss generalizations of the method of cancellations of oscillations of Schochet for two distinct fast time scales, i.e. which fast time scale is fastest? We will give an example for the quasi-geostrophic limit of the Boussinesq equations.

At the end we will briefly discuss how understanding the role of oscillations has allowed us to develop convergent algorithms for parallel-in-time methods.

Beth A. Wingate - University of Exeter

Jared Whitehead - Brigham Young University

Terry Haut - Los Alamos National Laboratory

1. A Hybrid Monte-Carlo Partial Differential Solver for Stochastic  Volatility Models (Cozma)

In finance, Monte-Carlo and Finite Difference methods are the most popular approaches for pricing options. If the underlying asset is modeled by a multidimensional system of stochastic differential equations, an analytic solution is rarely available and working under a given computational budget comes at the cost of accuracy. The mixed Monte-Carlo partial differential solver introduced by Loeper and Pironneau (2009) is one way to overcome this issue and we investigate it thoroughly for a number of stochastic volatility models. Our main concern is to provide a rigorous mathematical proof of the convergence of the hybrid method under different frameworks, which in turn justifies the use of Monte-Carlo simulations to compute the expected discounted payoff of the financial derivative. Then, we carry out a quantitative assessment based on a European call option by comparison with alternative numerical methods.

2. tbc (Brackmann)

A G\"odel sentence is often described as a sentence saying about itself that it is not provable, and a Henkin sentence as a sentence stating its own provability. We discuss what it could mean for a sentence to ascribe to itself a property such as provability or unprovability. The starting point will be the answer Kreisel gave to Henkin's problem. We describe how the properties of the supposedly self-referential sentences depend on the chosen coding, the formulae expressing the properties and the way a fixed point for the formula is obtained. Some further examples of self-referential sentences are considered, such as sentences that \anf{say of themselves} that they are $\Sigma^0_n$-true (or $\Pi^0_n$-true), and their formal properties are investigated.

In this seminar I will discuss a function field analogue of classical problems in analytic number theory, concerning the auto-correlations of divisor functions, in the limit of a large finite field.

Historically, the study of positively curved manifolds has always been challenging. There are many reasons for this, but among them is the fact that the existence of a metric of positive curvature on a manifold imposes strong topological restrictions. In this talk we will discuss some of these topological implications and we will introduce the main results in this area. We will also present some recent results that relate positive curvature to the smooth structure of the manifold.

Let $G$ be a connected reductive group and $X$ a smooth complete curve, both defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. Let $Bun_G$ denote the stack of $G$-bundles on $X$. In analogy with the classical theory of Whittaker coefficients for automorphic functions, we construct a “Fourier transform” functor, called $coeff_{G}$, from the DG category of D-modules on $Bun_G$ to a certain DG category $Wh(G, ext)$, called the extended Whittaker category. Combined with work in progress by other mathematicians and the speaker, this construction allows to formulate the compatibility of the Langlands duality functor  $$\mathbb{L}_G : \operatorname{IndCoh}_{N}(LocSys_{\check{G}} ) \to D(Bun_G)$$ with the Whittaker model. For $G = GL_n$ and $G = PGL_n$, we prove that $coeff_G$ is fully faithful. This result guarantees that, for those groups, $\mathbb{L}_G$ is unique (if it exists) and necessarily fully faithful.

In numerical analysis the design and analysis of computational methods is often based on, and closely linked to, a well-posedness result for the underlying continuous problem. In particular the continuous dependence of the continuous model is inherited by the computational method when such an approach is used. In this talk our aim is to design a stabilised finite element method that can exploit continuous dependence of the underlying physical problem without making use of a standard well-posedness result such as Lax-Milgram's Lemma or The Babuska-Brezzi theorem. This is of particular interest for inverse problems or data assimilation problems which may not enter the framework of the above mentioned well-posedness results, but can nevertheless satisfy some weak continuous dependence properties. First we will discuss non-coercive elliptic and hyperbolic equations where the discrete problem can be ill-posed even for well posed continuous problems and then we will discuss the linear elliptic Cauchy problem as an example of an ill-posed problem where there are continuous dependence results available that are suitable for the framework that we propose.

After motivating why we would like to find examples of simple totally disconnected locally compact groups, I will describe a construction due to Banks, Elder and Willis which yields infinitely many such examples when given certain groups acting on a tree.

Given any family of varieties over a number field, if we have that the existence of local points everywhere is equivalent to the existence of a global point (for each member of the family), then we say that the family satisfies the Hasse principle. Of more interest, in this talk, is the case when the Hasse principle fails: we will give an overview of the "geography" of the currently known obstructions.

I will explain an approach to Hamiltonian reduction using derived
symplectic geometry. Roughly speaking, the reduced space can be
presented as an intersection of two Lagrangians in a shifted symplectic
space, which therefore carries a natural symplectic structure. A slight
modification of the construction gives rise to quasi-Hamiltonian
reduction. This talk will also serve as an introduction to the wonderful
world of derived symplectic geometry where statements that morally ought
to be true are indeed true.

This brief lecture will highlight several best-practice observations and
research for writing software for mathematical research, drawn from a
number of sources, including; Best Practices for Scientific Computing
[BestPractices], Code Complete [CodeComplete], and personal observation
from the presenter.  Specific focus will be given to providing the
definition of important concepts, then describing how to apply them
successfully in day-to-day research settings.  Following the outline from
Best Practices, we will cover the following topics:

* Write Programs for People, Not Computers
* Let the Computer Do the Work
* Make Incremental Changes
* Don't Repeat Yourself (or Others)
* Plan for Mistakes
* Optimize Software Only after It Works Correctly
* Document Design and Purpose, Not Mechanics
* Collaborate

[BestPractices]
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001745
[CodeComplete] http://www.cc2e.com/Default.aspx