Laplace gave the simplest early statement of reductionism. His Demon, if supplied with the positions and momenta of all the particles in the universe, could, using Newton's laws, calculate the entire future and past of the universe. Add fields, quantum mechanics, and General Relativity and you have, roughly, modern physics. There are four features to Laplace's reductionism: (I) Everything that happens is deterministic, called into question a century later by quantum mechanics and the familiar Copenhagen interpretation and Born rule. (ii) All that is ontologically real are "nothing but" particles in motion. (iii) All that happens in the universe is describable by universal laws. (iv) There exists at least one language able to describe all of reality. Quantum mechanics is evidence against (i). I will argue that biological evolution, the coming into existence in the universe of hearts and humming birds co-evolving with the flowers that feed them and that they pollenate, cannot be deduced or simulated from the basic laws of physics. In Weinberg's phrase, they are not entailed by the laws of physics. I will then claim that at levels above the atom, the universe will never make all possible proteins length 200 amino acids, all possible organisms, or all possible social systems. The universe is indefinitely open upwards in complexity. More, proteins, organisms, and social systems are ontologically real, not just particles in motion. Most radically, I will contest (iii). I will try to show that we cannot pre-state Darwinian pre-adaptations, where a pre-adaptation is a feature of an organism of no use in the current selective environment, but of use in a different environment, hence selected for a novel function. Swim bladders are an example. Let me define the "adjacent possible" of the biosphere. Once there were the lung fish that gave rise to swim bladders, swim bladders were in the adjacent possible of the biosphere. Before there were multi-celled organisms, swim bladders were not in the adjacent possible of the biosphere. What I am claiming is that we cannot pre-state the adjacent possible of the biosphere. How could we pre-state the selective conditions? How could we pre-specify the features of one or several organisms that might become pre-adaptations? How could we know that we had completed the list? The implications are profound, if true. First, we can make no probability statement about pre-adaptations, for we do not know the sample space, so can formulate no probability measure. Most critically, if a natural law is a compact description before hand and afterward of the regularities of a process, then there can be no natural law sufficient to describe the emergence of swim bladders. Thus, the unfolding of the universe is partially lawless! This contradicts our settled convictions since Descartes, Galileo, Newton, Einstein and Schrödinger. It says that (iii) is false. In place of law is a ceaseless creativity, a self consistent self construction of the biosphere, the economy, our cultures, partially beyond law. Were reductionism sufficient, the existence of swim bladders in the universe would be entailed by physical law, hence "explained". But it appears that physics, as stated, is not sufficient in its reductionist version. Then we must explain the existence in the universe of swim bladders and humming birds pollenating flowers that feed them, on some different ground. We need a post-reductionist science. Autocatalytic mutualisms of organisms, the biosphere, and much of the economy, may be part of the explanation we seek. In turn this raises profound questions about how causal systems can coordinate their behaviors, let alone the role of energy, work, power, power efficiency, in the self-consistent construction of a biosphere. There is a lot to think about.

We experimentally investigate the statistical features of the stationary states reached by two idealized granular liquids able to exchange volume. The system consists in two binary mixtures of the same number of soft disks, hence covering the same area, but with different surface properties. The disks sit on a horizontal air table, which provides ultra low friction at the cell bottom, and are separated by a mobile wall. Energy is injected in the system by means of an array of randomly activated coil bumpers standing as the edges of the cell. Due to the energy injection, the system acts like a slow liquid and eventually jams at higher packing fraction. We characterize the macroscopic states by studying the motion of the piston. We find that its average position is different from one half, and a non monotonic function of the overall packing fraction, which reveals the crucial role played by the surface properties in the corresponding density of states. We then study the bulk statistics of the packing fraction and the dynamics in each subsystem. We find that the measured quantities do not equilibrate, and become dramatically different as the overall packing fraction is increased beyond the onset of supercooling. However, the local fluctuations of the packing fraction are uniquely determined by its average, and hence independent of the interaction between disks. We then focus on the mixing properties of such an assembly. We characterize mixing by computing the topological entropy of the braids formed by the stationary trajectories of the grains at each pressure. This quantity is shown to be well defined, very sensitive to onset of supercooling, reflecting the dynamical arrest of the assembly, and to equilibrate in the two subsystems. Joint work with Karen Daniels.

We report on an experimental and theoretical study of a molecularly thin polymer Langmuir layers on the surface of a Stokesian subfluid. Langmuir layers can have multiple phases (fluid, gas, liquid crystal, isotropic or anisotropic solid); at phase boundaries a line tension force is observed. By comparing theory and experiment we can estimate this line tension. We first consider two co-existing fluid phases; specifically a localized phase embedded in an infinite secondary phase. When the localized phase is stretched (by a transient stagnation flow), it takes the form of a bola consisting of two roughly circular reservoirs connected by a thin tether. This shape relaxes to the minimum energy configuration of a circular domain. The tether is never observed to rupture, even when it is more than a hundred times as long as it is thin. We model these experiments by taking previous descriptions of the full hydrodynamics (primarily those of Stone & McConnell and Lubensky & Goldstein), identifying the dominant effects via dimensional analysis, and reducing the system to a more tractable form. The result is a free boundary problem where motion is driven by the line tension of the domain and damped by the viscosity of the subfluid. The problem has a boundary integral formulation which allows us to numerically simulate the tether relaxation; comparison with the experiments allows us to estimate the line tension in the system. We also report on incorporating dipolar repulsion into the force balance and simulating the formation of "labyrinth" patterns.

Approximating the permanent of a matrix with nonnegative entries is a well studied problem. The most successful approach to date uses Markov chains, and Jerrum, Sinclair, and Vigoda developed such a method that runs in polynomial time O(n^7 (log n)^4). We present a very different approach using self-reducible acceptance/rejection, and show that for a class of dense problems, our method has an O(n^4 log n) expected running time. Also, we extend our approach to approximate the number of perfect matchings in non-bipartite graphs and general matchings in general graphs.

This is a joint work with B.Driver. The groups in question are modeled on an abstract Wiener space. Then a group Brownian motion is defined, and its properties are studied in connection with the geometry of this group. The main results include quasi-invariance of the heat kernel measure, log Sobolev inequality (following a bound on the Ricci curvature), and the Taylor isomorphism to the corresponding Fock space. The latter is a version of the Ito-Wiener expansion in the non-commutative setting.

We present an overview of experiments, numerical simulations, and mathematical analysis of the breakup of a low viscosity drop in a viscous fluid, and consider the role of surface contaminants, or surfactants, on the dynamics near breakup. As part of our study, we address a significant difficulty in the numerical computation of fluid interfaces with soluble surfactant that occurs in the important limit of very large values of bulk Peclet number Pe. At the high values of Pe in typical fluid-surfactant systems, there is a narrow transition layer near the drop surface or interface in which the surfactant concentration varies rapidly, and its gradient at the interface must be determined accurately to find the drop’s dynamics. Accurately resolving the layer is a challenge for traditional numerical methods. We present recent work that uses the narrowness of the layer to develop fast and accurate `hybrid’ numerical methods that incorporate a separate analytical reduction of the dynamics within the transition layer into a full numerical solution of the interfacial free boundary problem.

This talk will be geared toward first and second year grad students and/or anyone with limited geometry experience. We will discuss the idea of curvature for curves and surfaces and the notion of "best metrics." The classical Uniformization Theorem will be introduced from a modern angle: Ricci flow. This will motivate studying the Ricci flow in dimension 3 as a tool to understand topology in terms of geometry. Time permitting, we will finish by discussing the Geometrization Theorem.

There has been a flurry of recent activity in studying the topology of point cloud data. However, there is a feeling that we are lacking rigorous null hypotheses to compare with the results. This is one motivation for the following: Take n points, independently and identically distributed in R^d, according to some distribution (for example, a standard normal distribution). Connect them if they are close (within distance epsilon, a function of n), and then build the Cech complex or Rips complex. What can one say about the homology of this complex as n approaches infinity? Or the persistent homology with respect to the radius? Using a variety of techniques, including Poissonization, Stein's method, and discrete Morse theory, we are able to identify phase transitions, and for certain ranges of epsilon prove central limit theorems for the Betti numbers. This is joint work with Gunnar Carlsson and Persi Diaconis.

In this talk I will give a purely combinatorial description of Knot Floer Homology for knots in the three-sphere (Manolescu-Ozsváth-Szabó-Thurston). In this homology there is a naturally associated invariant for transverse knots. This invariant gives a combinatorial but still an effective way to distinguish transverse knots (Ng-Ozsváth-Thurston). Moreover it leads to the construction of an infinite family of non-transversely simple knot-types (Vértesi).

Qualitatively new behavior often emerges when large numbers of similar entities are interacting at high densities, no matter how simple the individual components. One prototypical example is granular matter such as fine dry sand, where individual grains are solids. In this talk I will discuss several striking phenomena, including the formation of jets and their break-up into droplets, where large ensembles of grains behave very much like a liquid, except that they do so without apparent surface tension.

The instanton equations appear in gauge theory and generalize both the Maxwell equations and the harmonic equation. Their study has been and continues to be a very fertile ground for interactions between physicists and mathematicians. The object of this talk is a description of instanton solutions on S^1xR^3 due to Hurtubise and myself using the Nahm transform, a non-linear transformation that takes a system of PDE and produces a system of ODE or even a system of algebraic equations. This description allows us to answer existence questions for calorons.

It is an interesting project guided by Tian's conjecture to use K\"ahler-Ricci flow with changing cohomology class in the study of general type manifold. The locally smooth convergence leaves quite some freedom for the global geometry. Meanwhile, volume form and scalar curvature have shown different behavior in infinite and finite time cases.

We discuss the characterization of chaos displayed by continuous time digital circuits, both numerically and experimentally. Continuous models for physical systems with switch-like behavior are used to simulate those circuits and their coupling. The effect of perturbations in the coupling and synchronization is also studied experimentally and numerically.

Fluid-structure interactions exist in many aspects of our daily lives. Some biomedical engineering examples are blood flowing through a blood vessel and blood pumping in the heart. Fluid interacting with moving or deformable structures poses more numerical challenges for its complexity in dealing with transient and simultaneous interactions between the fluid and solid domains. To obtain stable, effective, and accurate solutions is not trivial. Traditional methods that are available in commercial software often generate numerical instabilities.

In this talk, a novel numerical solution technique, Immersed Finite Element Method (IFEM), is introduced for solving complex fluid-structure interaction problems in various engineering fields. The fluid and solid domains are fully coupled, thus yield accurate and stable solutions. The variables in the two domains are interpolated via a delta function that enables the use of non-uniform grids in the fluid domain, which allows the use of arbitrary geometry shapes and boundary conditions. This method extends the capabilities and flexibilities in solving various biomedical, traditional mechanical, and aerospace engineering problems with detailed and realistic mechanics analysis. Verification problems will be shown to validate the accuracy and effectiveness of this numerical approach. Several biomechanical problems will be presented: 1) blood flow in the left atrium and left atrial appendage which is the main source of blood in patients with atrial fibrillation. The function of the appendage is determined through fluid-structure interaction analysis, 2) examine blood cell and cell interactions under different flow shear rates. The formation of the cell aggregates can be predicted when given a physiologic shear rate.

(This abstract is in TeX source code. Sorry!) Fix a small positive number $h$. Let $$G=h\mathbb{Z}^2=\{(ih,jh):i,j\in\mathbb{Z}\};$$ thus $G$ is a rectangular grid of points in $\mathbb{R}^2$. Let $\Omega$ be an bounded open subset of $\mathbb{R}^2$ with $C^1$ boundary and let $E=\{x\in G:x\in\Omega\}$. {\bf Question One.} Given $E$ can one determine the length of $\partial\Omega$ to within $O(h)$? The answer to this question is ``yes'', provided $\Omega$ satisfies a certain natural ``thickness'' condition; without this additional assumption the answer may be ``no''. {\bf Question Two.} Is there a fast algorithm for determining the length of $\partial\Omega$. The answer to this question also ``yes''. In this talk I will describe the proof that the answer to Question One is ``yes'' and I will describe the fast algorithm whose existence is implied in the answer to Question Two. If time permits, I will describe some applications.

We introduce some recent advances in the study of nonlinear stochastic heat equations, and related stochastic PDEs. Special attention will be paid to the local structure of the solution. In particular, we show that, frequently, the solution exhibits a form of intermittency. Time permitting, we discuss related connections to classical potential theory and mathematical physics as well.

Let (M_i,g_i) be a sequence of Riemannian n-manifolds with uniformly bounded curvature such that (M_i,g_i)->(X,d), a metric space, in the Gromov Hausdorff sense. Then we show that there is a closed subset S of X with codimension at least 3 and dimension at most n-5 such that X-S is a Riemannian Orbifold. We use this and an \epsilon-regularity theorem to show that metric spaces in the closure of the moduli space of Einstein 4-manifolds are Riemannian Orbifolds away from a finite number of points. This is joint with G. Tian.

In Markov chain Monte Carlo, a Markov chain is constructed whose limiting distribution is equal to some target distribution. While it is easy to build such chains, for some distributions the standard constructions can take exponentially long to come near that limit, making the chain torpidly mixing. When the limit is reached in polynomial time, the chain is rapidly mixing. Tempering is a technique designed to speed up the convergence of Markov chains by adding an extra temperature parameter that acts to smooth out the target distribution. In this talk I will present joint work with Dawn Woodard (Cornell) and Scott Schmidler (Duke) that give sufficient conditions for a tempering chain to be torpidly mixing, and a related (but different) set of conditions for the chain to be rapidly mixing.

The motion of primary nodal cilia present in embryonic development resembles that of a precessing rod. Implementing regularized singularities to model this fluid flow numerically simulates a situation for which colleagues have exact mathematical solutions and experimentalists have corresponding laboratory studies on both the micro- and macro-scales. Stokeslets are fundamental solutions to the Stokes equations, which act as external point forces when placed in a fluid. By strategically distributing regularized Stokeslets in a fluid domain to mimic an immersed boundary (e.g., cilium), one can compute the velocity and trajectory of the fluid at any point of interest. The simulation can be adapted to a variety of situations including passive tracers, rigid bodies and numerous rod structures in a fluid flow generated by a rod, either rotating around its center or its tip, near a plane. The exact solution allows for careful error analysis and the experimental studies provide new applications for the numerical model. Spectral deferred correction methods are used to alleviate time stepping restrictions in trajectory calculations. Quantitative and qualitative comparisons to theory and experiment have shown that a numerical simulation of this nature can generate insight into fluid systems that are too complicated to fully understand via experiment or exact numerical solution independently.

After brief introductions to special relativity and the foundations of differential geometry, we will discuss the big ideas behind Einstein's theory of general relativity. Einstein's theory replaces Newtonian physics not only as the best description of gravity according to experiments, but also as a philosophically pleasing and very geometric idea, which Einstein called his "happiest thought." We will also discuss the predictions made by general relativity, including the big bang and black holes, both of which are strongly supported by observations. We will discuss these ideas from a geometric perspective, and discuss some of the open problems and future directions that are currently being studied.

We study N-player repeated Cournot competitions that model the determination of price in an oligopoly where firms choose quantities. These are nonzero-sum (ordinary and stochastic) differential games, whose value functions may be characterized by systems of nonlinear Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman partial differential equations. When the quantity being produced is in finite supply, such as oil, exhaustibility enters as boundary conditions for the PDEs. We analyze the problem when there is an alternative, but expensive, resource (for example solar technology for energy production), and give an asymptotic approximation in the limit of small exhaustibility. We illustrate the two-player problem by numerical solutions, and discuss the impact of limited oil reserves on production and oil prices in the dupoly case. Joint work with Chris Harris (Cambridge University) and Sam Howison (Oxford University).

The helicity of a vector field in R^3, an analog to linking number, measures the extent to which its flowlines coil and wrap around one another. Helicity turns out to be invariant under volume-preserving diffeomorphisms that are isotopic to the identity. Motivated by Bott-Taubes integration, we provide a new proof of this invariance using configuration spaces. We then present a new topological explanation for helicity, as a characteristic class. Among other results, this point of view allows us to completely characterize the diffeomorphisms under which helicity is invariant and give an explicit formula for the change in helicity under a diffeomorphism under which helicity is not invariant. (joint work with Jason Cantarella, U. of Georgia)

In this talk, we will present some recent work on dispersive estimates for wave equations on Schwarzschild black hole backgrounds. We in particular will discuss Strichartz estimates and localized energy estimate. This is from a joint work with Jeremy Marzuola, Daniel Tataru, and Mihai Tohaneanu.

An introductory lecture to the Conley Index theory. We consider the flow case and introduce the key object of study: an index pair of an isolated invariant set. Index pairs are robust under perturbations and their homotopy type is invariant, making them an ideal tool for problems with error terms or even data-generated systems. The relevant tools are algebraic topology and some knowledge of continuous flows.

Consider a network of sites growing over time such that at step n a newcomer chooses a vertex from the existing vertices with probability proportional to a function of the degree of that vertex, i.e., the number of other vertices that this vertex is connected to. This is called a preferential attachment random graph. The objects of interest are the growth rates for the growth of the degree for each vertex with n and the behavior of the empirical distribution of the degrees. In this talk we will consider three cases: the weight function w(.) is superlinear, linear, and sublinear. Using recently obtained limit theorems for the growth rates of a pure birth continuous time Markov chains and an embedding of the discrete time graph sequence in a sequence of continuous time pure birth Markov chains, we establish a number of results for all the three cases. We show that the much discussed power law growth of the degrees and the power law decay of the limiting degree distribution hold only in the linear case, i.e., when w(.) is linear

Legendrian knots in standard contact R3 have in addition to their topological knot type two classical invariants known as the Thurston-Bennequin and rotation numbers. Over the past decade several invariants have been developed which are capable of distinguishing between knots with identical classical invariants. The purpose of this talk is to describe interesting relationships between some of these new invariants. Major players in this talk are the Chekanov-Eliashberg DGA (Legendrian contact homology) and related objects, as well as combinatorial structures on front diagrams and homological invariants arising from the theory of generating families (due to Chekanov-Pushkar, Fuchs, and Traynor). The main new result (joint with Fuchs) is that, when a Legendrian knot is defined by a generating family, homology groups obtained by linearizing the Chekanov-Eliashberg DGA are isomorphic to the homology of a pair of spaces associated with the generating family.

High performance transducers utilizing piezoceramic, electrostrictive, magnetostrictive or shape memory elements offer novel control capabilities in applications ranging from flow control to precision placement for nanoconstruction. To achieve the full potential of these materials, however, models, numerical methods and control designs which accommodate the constitutive nonlinearities and hysteresis inherent to the compounds must be employed. Furthermore, it is advantageous to consider material characterization, model development, numerical approximation, and control design in concert to fully exploit the novel sensor and actuator capabilities of these materials in coupled systems.

In this presentation, the speaker will discuss recent advances in the development of model-based control strategies for high performance smart material systems. The presentation will focus on the development of unified nonlinear hysteresis models, inverse compensators, reduced-order approximation techniques, and nonlinear control strategies for high precision or high drive regimes. The range for which linear models and control methods are applicable will also be outlined. Examples will be drawn from problems arising in structural acoustics, high speed milling, deformable mirror design, artificial muscle development, tendon design to minimize earthquake damage, and atomic force microscopy.