Elizabeth Bradley, Professor of Computer Science at The University of Colorado Boulder

General Audience Talk: A Brief Tour of Chaos Theory

Wednesday, 09/30 @7:00 pm, Pettengill Hall G65

Abstract:

Dynamical chaos is ubiquitous across a broad range of natural and engineered systems — and even a few movie scripts.  Chaotic systems are exquisitely sensitive to small perturbations, but their behavior has a fixed and highly characteristic pattern.  Making sense of this fascinating and somewhat counterintuitive combination of effects is important to one’s ability to understand the physical world.  I will begin this talk with a (very gentle) review of the core ideas of nonlinear dynamics, mostly in the form of pictures, and then talk about about some fun examples, ranging from paleoclimate dynamics to music and dance.

Afternoon Talk: Computational Topology Techniques for Characterizing Time Series Data

Thursday, 10/01 @ 12:00 pm, Dana 204

Abstract:

The first step in computing the state-space topology of a dynamical system from scalar data requires accurate reconstruction of those dynamics using delay-coordinate embedding; the second is the construction of an appropriate simplicial complex from the results. The first of these steps involves a number of free parameters, though, and the computation of homology for a large number of simplices can be expensive. I will discuss some approaches for computing the homology efficiently and effectively, in the face of these challenges, using a range of examples from the classic Lorenz system through musical instruments and honeybee colonies to demonstrate the associated ideas.

Accessibility: Bates is committed to creating inclusive and accessible events. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact Peter Philbin (pphilbin@bates.edu). All requests should be made 5 business days prior to the event to aid ability to meet your needs.