Thu, 29 Oct 2009

14:00 - 15:00
3WS SR

Is the Outer Solar System Chaotic?

Dr. Wayne Hayes
(UC Irvine and Imperial College London)
Abstract

The stability of our Solar System has been debated since Newton devised

the laws of gravitation to explain planetary motion. Newton himself

doubted the long-term stability of the Solar System, and the question

has remained unanswered despite centuries of intense study by

generations of illustrious names such as Laplace, Langrange, Gauss, and

Poincare. Finally, in the 1990s, with the advent of computers fast

enough to accurately integrate the equations of motion of the planets

for billions of years, the question has finally been settled: for the

next 5 billion years, and barring interlopers, the shapes of the

planetary orbits will remain roughly as they are now. This is called

"practical stability": none of the known planets will collide with each

other, fall into the Sun, or be ejected from the Solar System, for the

next 5 billion years.

Although the Solar System is now known to be practically stable, it may

still be "chaotic". This means that we may---or may not---be able

precisely to predict the positions of the planets within their orbits,

for the next 5 billion years. The precise positions of the planets

effects the tilt of each planet's axis, and so can have a measurable

effect on the Earth's climate. Although the inner Solar System is

almost certainly chaotic, for the past 15 years, there has been

some debate about whether the outer Solar System exhibits chaos or not.

In particular, when performing numerical integrations of the orbits of

the outer planets, some astronomers observe chaos, and some do not. This

is particularly disturbing since it is known that inaccurate integration

can inject chaos into a numerical solution whose exact solution is known

to be stable.

In this talk I will demonstrate how I closed that 15-year debate on

chaos in the outer solar system by performing the most carefully justified

high precision integrations of the orbits of the outer planets that has

yet been done. The answer surprised even the astronomical community,

and was published in _Nature Physics_.

I will also show lots of pretty pictures demonstrating the fractal nature

of the boundary between chaos and regularity in the outer Solar System.

Thu, 29 Oct 2009

12:00 - 13:00
SR1

The problem of the homotopy invariance of configuration spaces

George Raptis
(Oxford)
Abstract

The talk is about the homotopy type of configuration spaces. Once upon a time there was a conjecture that it is a homotopy invariant of closed manifolds. I will discuss the strong evidence supporting this claim, together with its recent disproof by a counterexample. Then I will talk about the corrected version of the original conjecture.

Wed, 28 Oct 2009
11:30
ChCh, Tom Gate, Room 2

When good groups go bad

Owen Cotton-Barratt
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

Much of group theory is concerned with whether one property entails another. When such a question is answered in the negative it is often via a pathological example. We will examine the Rips construction, an important tool for producing such pathologies, and touch upon a recent refinement of the construction and some applications. In the course of this we will introduce and consider the profinite topology on a group, various separability conditions, and decidability questions in groups.

Tue, 27 Oct 2009

17:00 - 18:00
L2

Birational Geometry via Auslander Algebras

Michael Wemyss
(Oxford)
Abstract

I'll explain how the `Auslander philosophy' from finite dimensional algebras gives new methods to tackle problems in higher-dimensional birational geometry. The geometry tells us what we want to be true in the algebra and conversely the algebra gives us methods of establishing derived equivalences (and other phenomenon) in geometry. Algebraically two of the main consequences are a version of AR duality that covers non-isolated singularities and also a theory of mutation which applies to quivers that have both loops and two-cycles.

Tue, 27 Oct 2009

14:30 - 15:30
L3

The simple harmonic urn

Stanislav Volkov
(Bristol)
Abstract

The simple harmonic urn is a discrete-time stochastic process on $\mathbb Z^2$ approximating the phase portrait of the harmonic oscillator using very basic transitional probabilities on the lattice, incidentally related to the Eulerian numbers.

This urn which we consider can be viewed as a two-colour generalized Polya urn with negative-positive reinforcements, and in a sense it can be viewed as a “marriage” between the Friedman urn and the OK Corral model, where we restart the process each time it hits the horizontal axes by switching the colours of the balls. We show the transience of the process using various couplings with birth and death processes and renewal processes. It turns out that the simple harmonic urn is just barely transient, as a minor modification of the model makes it recurrent.

We also show links between this model and oriented percolation, as well as some other interesting processes.

This is joint work with E. Crane, N. Georgiou, R. Waters and A. Wade.

Mon, 26 Oct 2009

17:00 - 18:00
Gibson 1st Floor SR

On the construction of singular solutions for kinetic equations

Juan Velasquez
(Universidad Complutense Madrid)
Abstract

In this talk I will present the rigorous construction of

singular solutions for two kinetic models, namely, the Uehling-Uhlenbeck

equation (also known as the quantum Boltzmann equation), and a class of

homogeneous coagulation equations. The solutions obtained behave as

power laws in some regions of the space of variables characterizing the

particles. These solutions can be interpreted as describing particle

fluxes towards or some regions from this space of variables.

The construction of the solutions is made by means of a perturbative

argument with respect to the linear problem. A key point in this

construction is the analysis of the fundamental solution of a linearized

problem that can be made by means of Wiener-Hopf transformation methods.

Mon, 26 Oct 2009
15:45
L3

Upper bounds onReidemeistermoves

Alex Coward
(Oxford)
Abstract

Given any two diagrams of the same knot or link, we

provide an explicit upper bound on the number of Reidemeister moves required to

pass between them in terms of the number of crossings in each diagram. This

provides a new and conceptually simple solution to the equivalence problem for

knot and links. This is joint work with Marc Lackenby.

Mon, 26 Oct 2009
15:45
Eagle House

TBA

Alan Hammond
(New York University)
Abstract

Condition supercritical percolation so that the origin is enclosed by a dual circuit whose interior traps an area of n^2.

The Wulff problem concerns the shape of the circuit. We study the circuit's fluctuation. A well-known measure of this fluctuation is maximum local roughness (MLR), which is the greatest distance from a point on the circuit to the boundary of circuit's convex hull. Another is maximum facet length (MFL), the length of the longest line segment of which this convex hull is comprised.

In a forthcoming article, I will prove that

for various models including supercritical percolation, under the conditioned measure,

MLR = \Theta(n^{1/3}\log n)^{2/3}) and MFL = \Theta(n^{2/3}(log n)^{1/3}).

An important tool is a result establishing the profusion of regeneration sites in the circuit boundary. The talk will focus on deriving the main results with this tool

Mon, 26 Oct 2009

12:00 - 13:00
L3

Gauge Threshold Corrections for Local String Models

Joe Conlon
(Oxford)
Abstract
Local string models are those where Standard Model degrees of freedom arise on a small region inside a large bulk volume. I study threshold effects on gauge coupling running for such models. The Kaplunovsky-Louis formula for locally supersymmetric gauge theories predicts the unification scale should be the bulk winding mode scale, parametrically large than the string scale where divergences are naively cut off. Analysis of explicit string models on orbifold/orientifold geometries confirms this; the winding mode scale arises from the presence of tadpoles uncancelled in the local model. I briefly discuss phenomenological applications to supersymmetry breaking and gauge coupling unification.
Fri, 23 Oct 2009

16:30 - 17:00
DH 1st floor SR

Dislocation dynamics and instability

Yichao Zhu
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

Dislocation channel-veins and Persist Slip Band (PSB) structures are characteristic configurations in material science. To find out the formation of these structures, the law of motion of a single dislocation should be first examined. Analogous to the local expansion in electromagnetism, the self induced stress is obtained. Then combining the empirical observations, we give a smooth mobility law of a single dislocation. The stability analysis is carried our asymptotically based on the methodology in superconducting vortices. Then numerical results are presented to validate linear stability analysis. Finally, based on the evidence given by the linear stability analysis, numerical experiments on the non-linear evolution are carried out.

Fri, 23 Oct 2009
16:30
L2

*My Nonlinear Odyssey : Analytics*, * Simulation & Visualization *

Professor Norm Zabusky
(Weizmann Institute)
Abstract

An overview of the early history of the soliton (1960-1970) and equipartition in nonlinear 1D lattices : From Fermi-Pasta-Ulam to Korteweg de Vries, to Nonlinear Schrodinger*…., and recent developments .

Fri, 23 Oct 2009
14:15
DH 1st floor SR

Stochastic version of the rule "Buy and Hold"

Albert Shiryaev
(Steklov)
Abstract

For a logarithmic utility function we extend our rezult with Xu and Zhou for case of the geometrical Brownian motion with drift term which depends of the some hidden parameter.

Fri, 23 Oct 2009

11:45 - 12:45
DH 1st floor SR

Anthony Lock and Becky Shipley

OCIAM Internal Seminar
(Oxford)
Abstract

Anthony Lock will speak on "A Column Model of Moist Convection".