ICTP COLLOQUIUM
16:30,
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Main Lecture
Hall, Leonardo Building, ICTP
Professor
Harry L. Swinney
University of
Texas at Austin
Abstract:
The emergence of patterns is one of the world’s most durable mysteries.
Some
patterns (clouds, zebra stripes) form in space, while others (the ebb
and flow
of tides, cardiac rhythms) form in time. Although there is no general
theory of
pattern formation in systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium, new
analysis
techniques enable quantitative comparisons of patterns such as the
spirals in a
frog egg, a fibrillating heart, and an ocean eddy. Insight into pattern
formation in diverse systems of different sizes and different
underlying
mechanisms can be gained from a common approach, as will be illustrated
with
examples from chemistry, physics, and biology.
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