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2007 Seminar Program |
The ACT Fluids Seminar Series has been set up as a way for scientists and engineers with an interest in fluid dynamics to keep up to date on current research in the field.
Each month speakers covering a variety of fluids-based disciplines talk about their research in an informal atmosphere. It is hoped that these seminars will promote interchange of ideas between people who might not otherwise see each other's work. As the seminars are ACT-wide, they are held at a variety of institutions around the ACT.
If you are interested in fluid mechanics and its myriad applications, you are most welcome to come along to the seminars.
Date: Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Time: 4pm
Location: CE123, Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Building 20, UNSW@ADFA, Northcott Drive, Campbell. You can find a map here:
http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/acme/map/schoolmap.html
Building 20 is on the north side of campus, the first building to the right as you enter from the car park. Go through the main entrace, up one flight of stairs, turn left then right and room 123 is the first room on the right.
Title:
Then and now: A world tour of dynamical systems, stability, and chaos.
Speaker: Dr. Rowena Ball
Abstract:
This seminar will be interesting to students, from undergrad to retiree, who know basic calculus and Hamiltonian mechanics. I shall review aspects of the mathematics of dynamical systems, stability, and chaos, within a historical framework that draws together the two major threads of its early development: celestial mechanics and control theory, and focussing on qualitative theory. From this perspective I show how concepts of stability enable us to classify dynamical equations and their solutions and connect the key issues of nonlinearity, bifurcation, control, and uncertainty that are common to time-dependent problems in natural and engineered systems. I shall discuss stability and bifurcations in two simple classic problems, in complex networks, and in the output from a turbulence refinery.
About the Speaker:
Dr Ball is currently a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Theoretical Physics and the Mathematical Sciences Institute at ANU. She received her BSc (university medal) and PhD from Macquarie University.
Dr Ball's research interests include thermo-reacting flows (combustion), quasi two-dimensional turbulence, and nonlinear dynamical systems.
New speakers are always welcome; contact the Seminar Convenor if you are interested in speaking on a topic of general interest to scientists working in fluids.
Please direct all enquiries to Seminar Convenor:-
Dr Sean O'Byrne
Phone: +61 (02) 6268 8353
Fax: +61 (02) 6268 8337
Email: s.obyrne@adfa.edu.au
For information on Past Seminars