Gyorgy Karolyi (University of Aberdeen)

will speak on

Elastic chains and the standard map: An approach to spatial chaos

Time: 2:15PM
Date: Thu 5th June 2008
Location: Mathematical Sciences Seminar Room [map]

Abstract: Complex spatial configurations of DNA, coiled plant tendrils and buckled
slender engineering structures raise the question whether they can be
characterised by tools borrowed from dynamical systems. Through a
seemingly simple problem, the buckling of an elastic linkage, we explore
the relationship between chaos and spatial chaos, and show how symbolic
dynamics can describe the buckling configurations of linkages. We find
that the classical invariants (symmetries, nodes, stability) used to
label buckled states are all easily computed from a symbolic dynamics of
finite length and infinite depth.

(This talk is part of the Applied and Computational Mathematics series.)

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