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Mathematics and Statistics Colloquium

Date/Time/Room: Friday (3/30/2007) at 2:30pm in 304 Pickard Hall

Speaker: Dr. Barbara Keyfitz,
Professor of Mathematics at the University of Houston
Director of the Fields Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

"Multidimensional Conservation Laws - More Questions than Answers"

Abstract: The analysis of quasilinear hyperbolic partial differential equations presents a number of challenges. Although equations of this type are important in a number of applications, ranging from high-speed aerodynamics, through magnetohydrodynamics, to multiphase flows important in industrial technology, there is little theory against which even to check the reliability of numerical simulations.

Development of a theory for conservation laws in a single space variable has led to remarkable advances in analysis, including the theory of compensated compactness and the study of novel function spaces. Recently, a number of groups have begun to approach multidimensional systems via self-similar solutions.

In this talk, I will give some history of the development of conservation law theory, including an indication of why the applications are important. I will describe some of the recent results on self-similar solutions, and the interesting results in analysis that they involve. Finally, I will outline some of the paradoxical questions that remain.