The First Mathday Workshop in Mathematical Sciences

14 March 2018

Time | Venue

March 8th, 2018

New International Conference Centre,

University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC)

Aims

1) To promote Mathematics and Statistics at UNNC;

2) To give early career Mathematicians /Statisticians and students the opportunity to network and discuss ideas with prominent invited speakers;

3) To offer career and academic guidance for future Mathematicians/Statisticians.

The workshop programmes involved a range of exciting mathematical topics presented by five international and local Mathematicians. Interested researchers and students from across the university attended the whole day sessions.

Organiser

School of Mathematical Sciences

Speakers

Prof. Charles Newman

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, NYU, USA and NYU-Shanghai, China

Topic: The Riemann Hypothesis is a conjecture formulated in 1859 by Bernhard Riemann about the location of the (nontrivial) zeros in the complex plane of Riemann's zeta function; the conjecture is that these zeros all lie on the vertical line with real part of the complex variable equal exactly to 1/2. It is often regarded as the most famous open problem in mathematics.

Dr. Behrouz Emamizadeh

UNNC

Title: Shape optimization problems, a non-gamma convergence approach

Abstract: In this talk I introduce a class of shape optimization problems which are related to a linear partial differential equation and show the typical gamma convergence approach is not applicable to prove existence of optimal solutions. Instead, using two simple devices; namely, the maximum principle and Bathtub Theorem we are able to prove existence of optimal solutions and derive the optimality conditions they satisfy. I end the talk with a more general shape optimization problem where these two devices will no longer be useful. For such cases I recommend using the very well developed theory of rearrangements that in recent years has proved to be a powerful tool in many optimization problems.

Prof. Henrik Shahgholian

The Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Title: Corners and multi-junctions in FB problems

Abstract: Professor Henrik’s talk is about his recent work on discussing the behaviour of free boundary in two perspectives: close to corner points of fixed boundaries and formation of multi-junction points.

Dr. Richard Rankin

UNNC

Title: Bounds for the error in finite element approximations

Abstract: The finite element method can be used to obtain approximate solutions to partial differential equations. In order to use the finite element method, the domain on which the partial differential equation is posed is partitioned into a mesh. It is important to know if a finite element approximation obtained on a particular mesh is sufficiently accurate or not, in which case a more accurate approximation can be obtained by refining the mesh. I will discuss how bounds for the error in finite element approximations can be obtained.

Dr. Richard Rankin

UNNC

Title: Bounds for the error in finite element approximations

Interview of Audiences

- Bo Li (an Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering): This workshop has been very successful in terms of bringing in state of the art mathematical/ statistical research to UNNC. I am always interested to learn from such established mathematicians/statistician because the way they conduct their research is extremely logical and complete. My own research involves numerical modelling as well which makes this workshop more productive for me as the talk given by Dr. Richard on bounding the error in numerical modelling is quite relevant to my research. In addition, I have been impressed by the way that Prof. Shi presented his work, which opened at a point that everyone could understand such that the audiences were attracted and brought into the scenario, then gradually proceeded to the core topic. I love this way of presentation and it will definitely inspire my own teaching.

- Hainam Do (an Assistant Professor in Chemical Enginerring): I would like to thank the organisers for bringing such an interesting and fruitful workshop to UNNC. My research involves applied mathematics and numerical modelling, and thus I find the workshop quite relevant. In particular, I’m impressed by the way how colleagues in Mathematics translate complex mathematical ideas into something that “digestible” for audiences from different fields. I’m looking forward to the next workshop in the series.

- Qingjia Zeng (a student majoring Applied Mathematics): I have been impressed by all the fantastic talks, particularly the one given by Prof. Henrik about using mathematics to prove and explain the free boundary problem in corner and multi-junction phenomenon. The phenomenon can be observed in everyone’s daily life but being ignored by most people, Prof. Henrik tried to unveil the theory behind with his rigorous thinking and strong skills of mathematics and physics. Prof. Henrik’s talk set up a perfect example of how the mathematics written in the book can be applied in a real application, and such that help to understand the world.