Meetings/Workshops on Thermodynamics, Fluid Dynamics and Statistical Physics in the United States (USA)

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.