Thu, 25 Jan 2018

17:00 - 18:00
L5

Was James Clerk Maxwell’s mathematics as good as his poetry?

Mark McCartney
(University of Ulster)
Abstract

James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) was, by any measure, a natural philosopher of the first rank who made wide-ranging contributions to science. He also, however, wrote poetry.

In this talk examples of Maxwell’s poetry will be discussed in the context of a biographical sketch. It will be  argued that not only was Maxwell a good poet, but that his poetry enriches our view of his life and its intellectual context.

Thu, 17 May 2018

16:00 - 17:30
L3

Peeling and the growth of blisters

Professor John Lister
(University of Cambridge)
Abstract

The peeling of an elastic sheet away from thin layer of viscous fluid is a simply-stated and generic problem, that involves complex interactions between flow and elastic deformation on a range of length scales. 

I will illustrate the possibilities by considering theoretically and experimentally the injection and spread of viscous fluid beneath a flexible elastic lid; the injected fluid forms a blister, which spreads by peeling the lid away at the  perimeter of the blister. Among the many questions to be considered are the mechanisms for relieving the elastic analogue of the contact-line problem, whether peeling is "by bending" or "by pulling", the stability of the peeling front, and the effects of a capillary meniscus when peeling is by air injection. The result is a plethora of dynamical regimes and asymptotic scaling laws.

Distributional equivalence and structure learning for bow-free acyclic path diagrams
Nowzohour, C Maathuis, M Evans, R Buehlmann, P Electronic Journal of Statistics volume 11 issue 2 5342-5374 (28 Dec 2017)
Wed, 06 Dec 2017

11:30 - 13:00
L5

Hydrodynamics and acoustics of a free falling drop impact on a quiescent water layer

Yuli Chashechkin
(Russian Academy of Sciences)
Abstract

Using synchronized high-speed video camera, hydrophone and microphone we investigated flow patterns, the impact and secondary sound pulses emitted by oscillating bubbles. On the submerging  drop found short capillary waves produced by small secondary impact droplets. Picturesque filament and grid structures produced by colour drop of mixing fluid registered on the surface of the cavity and crown. Physical model includes discussion of the potential surface energy effects.

There is a deep connection between the stability of oil rigs, the bending of light during gravitational lensing and the act of life drawing. To understand each, we must understand how we view curved surfaces. We are familiar with the language of straight-line geometry – of squares, rectangles, hexagons - but curves also have a language - of folds, cusps and swallowtails - that few of us know.

Smooth, identifiable supermodels of discrete DAG models with latent variables
Evans, R Richardson, T Bernoulli volume 25 issue 2 848-876 (06 Mar 2019)
Cosmological Parameters and the Baryon Density from CMB and Galaxy Fluctuations
Gaztañaga, E Barriga, J Santos, M Sarkar, S Astrophysics and Space Science Library volume 274 303-308 (2002)
Fri, 17 Nov 2017

10:00 - 11:00
L3

Call Routing Optimisation

Jonathan Welton
(Vodafone)
Abstract

The costs to Vodafone of calls terminating on other networks – especially fixed networks – are largely determined by the termination charges levied by other telecoms operators.  We interconnect to several other telecoms operators, who charge differently; within one interconnect operator, costs vary depending on which of their switching centres we deliver calls to, and what the terminating phone number is.  So, while these termination costs depend partly on factors that we cannot control (such as the number called, the call duration and the time of day), they are also influenced by some factors that we can control.  In particular, we can route calls within our network before handing them over from our network to the other telecoms operator; where this “handover” occurs has an impact on termination cost.  
Vodafone would like to develop a repeatable capability to determine call delivery cost efficiency and identify where network routing changes can be made to improve matters, and determine traffic growth forecasts.

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