Conferences and Meetings on Thermodynamics, Fluid Dynamics and Statistical Physics

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP)

A fascinating and surprising phenomenon that can occur in fluid and plasma turbulence is the spontaneous formation of arrays of layers in which material properties such as density adopt a so-called “staircase” structure. The most striking examples are potential vorticity staircases in planetary atmospheres, and thermohaline staircases in the oceans. Theoretical considerations suggest that layering also plays an important role in stellar interiors (particularly through various double-diffusive processes) and in fusion confinement devices (the so-called E x B staircase). Understanding the phenomenon of layering is, therefore, not only of intrinsic scientific interest (e.g., is there a common thread to layering in these very different contexts?), but is also crucial for an accurate description of turbulent transport in, for example, models of large-scale ocean flow, the evolution of stellar interiors and confinement in tokamaks.

Plasma and Gas-discharge Physics, Nuclear Fusion,    Mathematical Physics

Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), UCLA

Transport and mixing are among the most important properties of fluid flows. Indeed, movement of mechanical and thermal energy and material underlies the most basic dynamical phenomena in astrophysics, geophysics and the environment, as well as in biology and myriad industrial and engineering applications. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms and ways to control, bound, limit or enhance transport and mixing are central to many active research fields. The primary objective of this workshop is to bring together mathematicians working on theoretical aspects of fluid mechanics, transport, mixing, and computational aspects of fluid dynamics and data science, with applied scientists working on quantitative modeling and experimental aspects of mixing and transport phenomena. Recent theoretical developments combined with the explosion of data available from observations, experiments and simulations make this an especially appropriate time to bring these disparate communities together to cross-pollinate insights and encourage knowledge transfer and creation.

Computational Physics and Numerical Simulation,    Complex Systems, Chaos and Self-Organisation

Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)

The workshop will address topics in the PDE analysis of the basic equations of the incompressible fluid dynamics (the Euler equations for inviscid flows, the Navier Stokes equations for viscous flows), interface problems (water waves), and other related equations. Open problems and connections to related branches of mathematics will be discussed, including the phenomena of turbulence and the zero viscosity limit. Both theoretical and numerical aspects of these topics will be considered. There will be some colloquium style lectures as well as shorter research talks. The workshop is open to all.

American Institute of Mathematics (AIM)

This workshop, sponsored by AIM and the NSF, is devoted to the phenomena of criticality and stochasticity which co-occur in many interesting nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). It is designed to help strengthen and expand the deep connections between these phenomena by gathering researchers with different backgrounds in these areas, encouraging discussions of recent developments as well as open problems, and fostering collaborations during and after the workshop. In particular, the workshop will focus on a certain PDEs for which these phenomena play a major role; namely, the 3D Euler and Navier-Stokes (NS) equations of incompressible fluids, the 2D surface quasi-geostrophic (SQG) equation of geophysical flows, and the 3D Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (Hall-MHD) system.

Applied Mathematics (in general),    Complex Systems, Chaos and Self-Organisation

Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)

The aim of the workshop is to bring together a broad array of researchers working on incompressible fluid dynamics. Some of the key topics to be covered are Euler flows, Navier Stokes equations as well as water wave flows and associated model equations. Some emphasis will also be placed on numerical analysis of the above evolutions.

Casa Matemática Oaxaca (CMO) in Mexico, and the Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) in Banff, Canada

Mathematical billiards are a fast growing field of the modern theory of dynamical systems and a deep source of insights, methods and examples in dynamics. It has greatly impacted many areas, ranging from integrable Hamiltonian systems and KAM theory, hyperbolic (chaotic) systems, to Teichm\"uller dynamics. It has also stimulated much recent applied research in such areas of mathematical physics as equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and quantum theory. The proposed workshop will bring together leading mathematicians, mathematical physicists, and younger researchers whose work is connected to the theory and applications of billiard dynamics from a variety of perspectives. Topics will include new modalities of billiard systems, with special attention given to applications to statistical physics such as, for example, the study of classical and quantum transport phenomena.

Courses and Events for Math Students and Early Career Researchers,    Complex Systems, Chaos and Self-Organisation

Casa Matemática Oaxaca (CMO) in Mexico, and the Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) in Banff, Canada

Fluids that exhibit physical behaviours which are not Newtonian are extremely common in nature and in industrial contexts. These occur in many processes underlying natural resource industries (mining, oil and gas). These are key in manufacturing industries such as polymer processing and in new environmentally-driven manufacturing products such as printing/layering in battery manufacture, coating flows, drug and droplet encapsulation and many bio-fluid applications (e.g. blood, mucus, semen, synovial fluids). This workshop brings together mathematically oriented scientists and engineers to work on these societally important issues.

Courses and Events for Math Students and Early Career Researchers,    Computational Physics and Numerical Simulation

Casa Matemática Oaxaca (CMO) in Mexico, and the Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) in Banff, Canada

This workshop will study this question for systems of geometric origin. One example of this is a particle bouncing inside a region -- think of a ball bouncing around a billiard table, or a light beam bouncing around a room whose walls are mirrors. If the walls are flat then the behavior is fairly predictable, but if they are curved then one often observes random-looking behavior in the long run. Or imagine walking in a straight line along a surface; if the surface is flat then changing the starting point a little will lead to a predictable change in the trajectory. However, if the surface is curved like a saddle then different trajectories will spread out and your location after walking for a long time will eventually seem to be random. The task of giving precise descriptions of systems such as these requires a more complete development of the theory of thermodynamic formalism for systems of geometric origin, which is precisely the goal of this workshop.

Courses and Events for Math Students and Early Career Researchers,    Mathematical Physics

Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS)

The workshop brings together top experts in the field, and creates an environment where all the latest ideas, intuition and techniques can be shared and refined. Another important goal of the proposed workshop is to introduce junior researchers to a highly active area of research in PDEs of fluid dynamics. We will give preferences to young researchers when inviting speakers to the workshop.

Courses and Events for Math Students and Early Career Researchers,    Mathematical Physics

The Jagiellonian University

The organizers of the IXth edition of the Diffusion Fundamentals conference held in Kraków (Poland) from 7th to 10th September 2021 intend to continue the 16-years tradition of the series. Invitation to attend the conference is addressed to the wide milieu of scientists interested in diverse concepts of diffusion – understood not only as a movement of material bodies in all scales but also as any spreading phenomena in diverse areas of knowledge.