The University of Pittsburgh, Department of Mathematics
Presents
The Edmund R. Michalik Distinguished Lecture in the Mathematical Sciences
Sir John Ball
Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy, Oxford University
Defects in Materials and their Mathematical Description
Abstract: Cracks, cavities, dislocations, phase boundaries and disclinations are all examples of material defects. In some mathematical models they may be described by singularities in solutions, whereas in others they may be represented differently. The lecture will describe some examples in which the understanding of such defects raises interesting mathematical, scientific and philosophical issues.
Reception Immediately Following the Lecture
This public lecture is part of an annual series in honor of Professor Edmund R. Michalik, established through a gift from the Michalik family.
For further information, email: math@pitt.edu
Phone: 412-624-8375
or visit http://www.mathematics.pitt.edu
John Ball is Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the Queen's College. He was President of the International Mathematical Union from 2003-06. His research interests include elasticity, the mathematics of solid and liquid crystals, the calculus of variations, and infinite-dimensional dynamical systems. He is a foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and is a fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and of the American Mathematical Society, among many other honors and prizes.
Location and Address
Ballroom A, University Club