Werkgroep Theoretische Natuurkunde en Wiskunde
voor studenten en promovendi uit de wiskunde, natuurkunde en sterrenkunde
Spontane Patroonvorming en Dynamica in Niet-evenwichts Systemen

"Workgroup" Theoretical Physics and Mathematics
Pattern Formation and Dynamics in Nonequilibrium Systems



coordinators:

 dr. Vivi Rottschäfer (Mathematics Department, Leiden)
  prof. Wim van Saarloos (Instituut-Lorentz, LION, Leiden)
  dr. Alexander Morozov (Instituut-Lorentz, Leiden)
   
language: the course language will be English, but of course there is room for questions and clarifications in Dutch.
   
dates: The meetings will be held on Monday afternoons from 14-17, starting January 27. The course will end in April.
   
place: Huygens Laboratory, Leiden, room 204
   

 
Perspective
Many systems in nature spontaneously form nontrivial spatial structures: ice flowers on a window or ripples on a beach are simple examples of large scale patterns that occur in nature, but there are also numerous examples of spontaneous pattern formation that occur in nonequilibrium systems in physics, astronomy, chemistry and biology. The behavior of such systems is often highly nonlinear, and hence their description usually involves nonlinear analysis, in particular the analysis of nonlinear partial differential equations. This course will give an introduction to both the phenomena that are encountered, as well as to some of the theoretical models introduced for them and the mathematical techniques needed to analyze their nonlinear behavior.

Aim and setup of the course
The course is aimed at students in mathematics, astronomy and physics in their fourth or fifth year as well as graduate students, but is open to anyone interested. The aim is to become familiar with modern concepts in the fields of dynamical systems and non-equilibrium pattern formation to a level that participants should be able to start reading the literature in these field by themselves. The course will have an interactive and informal setup: we will work through the first seven chapters of a draft of the book Pattern Formation and Dynamics in Nonequilibrium Systems by H. S. Greenside and M. C. Cross which will appear in 2003/2004. An important aspect of the course is that the participants are expected to prepare the meetings at home by studying parts of the book and by making a number of exercises. In the meetings we will discuss the sections which have been studied and do some of exercises on the blackboard; the course instructors will also discuss additional background material and examples or review experimental studies of the type of problems which have been analyzed.

Registration
Advance registration is not absolutely necessary, but we appreciate it if you could send one of the organizers an email before January 20 if you intend to participate, so that we will know how many copies of the draft of the book to make.

Credits
Students who activily participate in the course and who pass a little test at the end will get 10 ECTS "studiepunten"; those who actively participate but do not take the test will get 7 ECTS points.

Further information
For further information, contact:
Vivi Rottschäfer , phone 071-5277113, email: vivi@math.leidenuniv.nl
Wim van Saarloos, phone 071-5275501, email: saarloos@lorentz.leidenuniv.nl

[Courses and classes] [Wim van Saarloos] [Instituut-Lorentz]