Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

We investigate deterministic superdiusion in nonuniformly hyperbolic system models in terms of the convergence of rescaled distributions to the normal distribution following the abnormal central limit theorem, which differs from the usual requirement that the mean square displacement grow asymptotically linearly in time. We obtain an explicit formula for the superdiffusion constant in terms of the ne structure that originates in the phase transitions as well as the geometry of the configuration domains of the systems. Models that satisfy our main assumptions include chaotic Lorentz gas, Bunimovich stadia, billiards with cusps, and can be apply to other nonuniformly hyperbolic systems with slow correlation decay rates of order O(1/n)

Most available techniques for the design of tensegrity structures can be grouped in two categories. On the one hand, methods that rely on the systematic application of topological and geometric rules to regular polyhedrons have been applied to the generation of tensegrity elementary cells. On the other hand, efforts have been made to either combine elementary cells or apply rules of self-similarity in order to generate complex structures of engineering interest, for example, columns, beams and plates. However, perhaps due to the lack of adequate symmetries on traditional tensegrity elementary cells, the design of three-dimensional tensegrity lattices has remained an elusive goal. In this work, we first develop a method to construct three-dimensional tensegrity lattices from truncated octahedron elementary cells. The required space-tiling translational symmetry is achieved by performing recursive reflection operations on the elementary cells. We then analyze the mechanical response of the resulting lattices in the fully nonlinear regime via two distinctive approaches: we first adopt a discrete reduced-order model that explicitly accounts for the deformation of individual tensegrity members, and we then utilize this model as the basis for the development of a continuum approximation for the tensegrity lattices. Using this homogenization method, we study tensegrity lattices under a wide range of loading conditions and prestressed configurations. We present Ashby charts for yield strength to density ratio to illustrate how our tensegrity lattices can potentially achieve superior performance when compared to other lattices available in the literature. Finally, using the discrete model, we analyze wave propagation on a finite tensegrity lattice impacting a rigid wall.

I will present results on numerical methods for fractional order operators, including the Caputo Fractional Derivative and the Fractional Laplacian. Fractional order systems have been of growing interest over the past ten years, with applications to hydrology, geophysics, physics, and engineering. Despite the large interest in fractional order systems, there are few results utilizing collocation methods. The numerical methods I will present rely heavily on reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHSs) as a means of discretizing fractional order operators. For the estimation of a function's Caputo fractional derivative we utilize a new RKHS, which can be seen as a generalization of the Fock space, called the Mittag-Leffler RKHS. For the fractional Laplacian, the Wendland radial basis functions are utilized.

Collective behavior can be seen in many animal species, such as flocking birds, herding mammals, and swarming bacteria. In the continuum limit, these phenomena can be modeled by nonlocal PDEs. In this talk, after discussing some PDE models for collective dynamics, I will focus on the analysis of the Keller-Segel equation, which models bacterial chemotaxis. Mathematically, this equation exhibits an intriguing "critical mass phenomenon": namely, solutions exist globally in time for all initial data whose mass is below some certain constant, whereas finite-time blow-up always happen if the initial mass is above this constant. I will introduce some useful analysis tools that lead to this result, and discuss some active areas of current research.