Mon, 21 Jun 2010

17:00 - 18:00
Gibson 1st Floor SR

TBA

Lawrence C. Evans
(U C Berkeley)
Fri, 18 Jun 2010
14:30
DH 3rd floor SR

Fluid Filled Fractures

Dr Steven Roper
(Glasgow)
Abstract

The presence and flow of fluid inside a crack within a solid causes deformation of the solid which in turn influences the flow of the fluid.

This coupled fluid-solid problem will be discussed in the context of dyke propagation and hydrofracture. The background material will be discussed in detail and some applications to specific geometries presented.

Fri, 18 Jun 2010
14:15
L3

Root's Barrier: Construction, Optimality and Applications to Variance Options

Alexander Cox
(Bath)
Abstract

"We investigate a construction of a Skorokhod embedding due to Root (1969), which has been the subject of recent interest for applications in Mathematical Finance (Dupire, Carr & Lee), where the construction has applications for model-free pricing and hedging of variance derivatives. In this context, there are two related questions: firstly of the construction of the stopping time, which is related to a free boundary problem, and in this direction, we expand on work of Dupire and Carr & Lee; secondly of the optimality of the construction, which is originally due to Rost (1976). In the financial context, optimality is connected to the construction of hedging strategies, and by giving a novel proof of the optimality of the Root construction, we are able to identify model-free hedging strategies for variance derivatives. Finally, we will present some evidence on the numerical performance of such hedges. (Joint work with Jiajie Wang)"

Fri, 18 Jun 2010

11:00 - 12:00
Gibson 1st Floor SR

Quasiconvexity at the boundary and weak lower semicontinuity of integral functionals

Martin Kruzik
(Academy of Sciences, Prague)
Abstract

It is well-known that Morrey's quasiconvexity is closely related to gradient Young measures,

i.e., Young measures generated by sequences of gradients in

$L^p(\Omega;\mathbb{R}^{m\times n})$. Concentration effects,

however, cannot be treated by Young measures. One way how to describe both oscillation and

concentration effects in a fair generality are the so-called DiPerna-Majda measures.

DiPerna and Majda showed that having a sequence $\{y_k\}$ bounded in $L^p(\Omega;\mathbb{R}^{m\times n})$,$1\le p$ $0$.

Fri, 18 Jun 2010

10:00 - 11:30
DH 3rd floor SR

DPhil student transfer of status presentations

Various
(Oxford)
Abstract

Puck Rombach;

"Weighted Generalization of the Chromatic Number in Networks with Community Structure",

Christopher Lustri;

"Exponential Asymptotics for Time-Varying Flows,

Alex Shabala

"Mathematical Modelling of Oncolytic Virotherapy",

Martin Gould;

"Foreign Exchange Trading and The Limit Order Book"

Thu, 17 Jun 2010
17:00
L3

Higher amalgamation in valued fields

Martin Hills
(Paris)
Abstract

The n-amalgamation property has recently been explored in connection with generalised imaginaries (groupoid imaginaries) by Hrushovski. This property is useful when studying models of a stable theory together with a generic automorphism, e.g.

elimination of imaginaries (e.i.) in ACFA may be seen as a consequence of 4-amalgamation (and e.i.) in ACF.

The talk is centered around 4-amalgamation of stably dominated types in algebraically closed valued fields. I will show that 4-amalgamation holds in equicharacteristic 0, even for systems with 1 vertex non stably dominated. This is proved using a reduction to the stable part, where 4-amalgamation holds by a result of Hrushovski. On the other hand, I will exhibit an NIP (even metastable) theory with 4-amalgamation for stable types but in which stably dominated types may not be 4-amalgamated.

Thu, 17 Jun 2010

16:30 - 17:30
OCCAM Common Room (RI2.28)

WHERE TO PLACE A HOLE TO ACHIEVE THE FASTEST ESCAPE (dynamical characterization of networks' elements)

Leonid Bunimovich
(Georgia Tech USA)
Abstract

The question in the title seems to be neglected in the studies of open dynamical systems. It occurred though that the features of dynamics may play a role comparable to the one played by the size of a hole. For instance, the escape through the smaller hole could be faster than through the larger one.

These studies revealed as well a new role of the periodic orbits in the dynamics which could be exactly quantified in some cases. Moreover, this new approach allows to characterize the elements of networks by their dynamical properties (rather than by static ones like centrality, betweenness, etc.)

Thu, 17 Jun 2010

14:00 - 15:00
3WS SR

Towards Effective Computation with Kernels on Manifolds

Prof Joseph Ward
(Texas A&M University)
Abstract
This talk will focus on highly localized basis functions which exist for certain kernels and spaces associated with these kernels. Such kernels include certain radial basis functions (RBFs), their restrictions to spheres (SBFs), and their restrictions to more general manifolds embeddable in Rd. The first part of the talk will be of an introductory nature. It will discuss radial basis functions and their restriction to manifolds which give rise to various kernels on these manifolds. The talk will then focus on the development (for certain kernels) of highly localized Lagrange functions which serve as effective bases: i.e., bases which are stable and local. Scaled versions of these bases will then be used to establish the stability of the L2 minimization operator in Lp, 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞, thus obtaining a multivariate analogue of a result of de Boor. Since these bases are scalable with the data, they have potential uses beyond approximation including meshless methods and, more generally, computations of a multiresolution nature. The talk is primarily based on joint work with T. Hangelbroek, F. J. Narcowich and X. Sun.
Wed, 16 Jun 2010
14:15
Dobson Room, AOPP

TBA

Dr Greg Sheard
(Australia)
Wed, 16 Jun 2010

11:30 - 12:30
ChCh, Tom Gate, Room 2

Trees of Groups and Exotic Fusion Systems

Jason Semeraro
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

Not only does the definition of an (abstract) saturated fusion system provide us with an interesting way to think about finite groups, it also permits the construction of exotic examples, i.e. objects that are non-realisable by any finite group. After recalling the relevant definitions of fusion systems and saturation, we construct an exotic fusion system at the prime 3 as the fusion system of the completion of a tree of finite groups. We then sketch a proof that it is indeed exotic by appealing to The Classification of Finite Simple Groups.

Tue, 15 Jun 2010

17:00 - 18:00
L2

Bilinear Forms and Differential Forms under Field Extensions

Detlev Hoffmann
(Nottingham)
Abstract

An important problem in algebra is the study of algebraic objects

defined over fields and how they behave under field extensions,

for example the Brauer group of a field, Galois cohomology groups

over fields, Milnor K-theory of a field, or the Witt ring of bilinear

forms over

a field. Of particular interest is the determination

of the kernel of the restriction map when passing to a field extension.

We will give an overview over some known results concerning the

kernel of the restriction map from the Witt ring of a field to the

Witt ring of an extension field. Over fields of characteristic

not two, general results are rather sparse. In characteristic two,

we have a much more complete picture. In this talk, I will

explain the full solution to this problem for extensions that are

given by function fields of hypersurfaces over fields of

characteristic two. An important tool is the study of the

behaviour of differential forms over fields of positive

characteristic under field extensions. The result for

Witt rings in characteristic two then follows by applying earlier

results by Kato, Aravire-Baeza, and Laghribi. This is joint

work with Andrew Dolphin.

Tue, 15 Jun 2010
16:00
DH 3rd floor SR

Profinite Trees

Owen Cotton-Barratt
(Oxford)
Tue, 15 Jun 2010

13:15 - 13:45
DH 3rd floor SR

Uncovering the secrets of 'surface active Agents'

Cara Morgan
(Oxford)
Abstract

Following work done by the 'Oxford Spies' we uncover more secrets of 'surface-active Agents'. In modern-day applications we refer to these agents as surfactants, which are now extensively used in industrial, chemical, biological and domestic applications. Our work focuses on the dynamic behaviour of surfactant and polymer-surfactant mixtures.

In this talk we propose a mathematical model that incorporates the effects of diffusion, advection and reactions to describe the dynamic behaviour of such systems and apply the model to the over-flowing-cylinder experiment (OFC). We solve the governing equations of the model numerically and, by exploiting large parameters in the model, obtain analytical asymptotic solutions for the concentrations of the bulk species in the system. Thus, these solutions uncover secrets of the 'surface-active Agents' and provide an important insight into the system behaviour, predicting the regimes under which we observe phase transitions of the species in the system. Finally, we suggest how our models can be extended to uncover the secrets of more complex systems in the field.

Tue, 15 Jun 2010

12:00 - 13:00
L3

Analytic torsion for twisted de Rham complexes

Varghese Mathai (Adelaide)
Abstract

I will define and discuss the properties of the analytic torsion of

twisted cohomology and briefly of Z_2-graded elliptic complexes

in general, as an element in the graded determinant line of the

cohomology of the complex, generalizing most of the variants of Ray-

Singer analytic torsion in the literature. IThe definition uses pseudo-

differential operators and residue traces. Time permitting, I will

also give a couple of applications of this generalized torsion to

mathematical physics. This is joint work with Siye Wu.

Mon, 14 Jun 2010

12:30 - 13:30
Gibson 1st Floor SR

Numerical Investigations of Electric-Field-InducedTransitions in Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Films

Chuck Gartland
(Kent State)
Abstract

We consider thin films of a cholesteric liquid-crystal material subject to an applied electric field.  In such materials, the liquid-crystal "director" (local average orientation of the long axis of the molecules) has an intrinsic tendency to rotate in space; while the substrates that confine the film tend to coerce a uniform orientation.

The electric field encourages certain preferred orientations of the director as well, and these competing influences give rise to several different stable equilibrium states of the director field, including spatially uniform, translation invariant (functions only of position across the cell gap) and periodic (with 1-D or 2-D periodicity in the plane of the film).  These structures depend on two principal control parameters: the ratio of the cell gap to the intrinsic "pitch" (spatial period of rotation) of the cholesteric and the magnitude of the applied voltage.

We report on numerical work (not complete) on the bifurcation and phase behavior of this system.  The study was motivated by potential applications involving switchable gratings and eyewear with tunable transparency. We compare our results with experiments conducted in the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University.