Department
Home Page
About Us:
• Contact Info.
• Faculty
• Staff
• Teaching Assistants
Academic Program:
• Admission
• Undergraduate
• Graduate
• Certificates
Courses:
• Course Description
• Class Web Pages
• Class Syllabi
Research:
• Colloquium
• Interdisciplinary Seminar
• Seminars
• Steve Goldman Lectures in Mathematical Physics
Links:
| • Completing Online GEP Courses |
| • Best Jobs |
| • Newsletter |
| • Math Lab |
| •Math Placement Test |
| • Careers |
| • American Mathematical Society |
| • Mathematical Association of America |
03/24/04 Colloquium
DR. STEPHANE LAFORTUNE
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Stability Analysis Of Local Deformations Of An Elastic Rod
Abstract: It is often possible to use the Hamiltonian structure of a system of partial differential equations for studying the stability of localized structures such as pulses and fronts. I will present a work in which this is done for pulse solutions to two coupled nonlinear Klein-Gordon equations (CNLKG). These equations describe the near-threshold dynamics of an elastic rod with a circular cross-section. Furthermore, if times permits, I will introduce the notion of Evans function. The latter is a function of the spectral parameter whose zeros correspond to the point spectrum of a linear operator. I will show how the numerical computation of the Evans function is used to obtain information on the spectrum of the linearisation of the CNLKG about the pulse solutions.