Minimal surfaces. Recent stunning progress in topology, in particular a possible solution to one of the Clay Institute million dollar problems, using techniques from partial differential equations and minimal surfaces has made this area a hot topic. To attract researchers in this field to visit Australia and to train students in this area is a major part of this project.
Global Behaviour of Integrable Complex Systems. Complex systems as diverse as the weather and the solar system are modelled by non-linear equations that have elusive, unstable solutions. An infinitesimally small change in the state of the system at one place can lead to a vast change in its behaviour far away. Such extreme sensitivity is often take to be a sign of chaos, but it also occurs in completely ordered, integrable systems. Our main aim is to tackle the immense challenge of describing th ....Global Behaviour of Integrable Complex Systems. Complex systems as diverse as the weather and the solar system are modelled by non-linear equations that have elusive, unstable solutions. An infinitesimally small change in the state of the system at one place can lead to a vast change in its behaviour far away. Such extreme sensitivity is often take to be a sign of chaos, but it also occurs in completely ordered, integrable systems. Our main aim is to tackle the immense challenge of describing the global behaviour of such elusive solutions, particularly when the systems depend on many variables.Read moreRead less
Iwasawa N Groups. Semisimple Lie groups and related objects are important in mathematics, theoretical physics (e.g., quantum mechanics and string theory), theoretical computer science (e.g., construction of expanders), and many other areas. They may be studied from different points of view---algebraic, analytic, geometric and representation theoretic---and these different studies find different applications. The project aims to synthesize the different points of view, to understand their funda ....Iwasawa N Groups. Semisimple Lie groups and related objects are important in mathematics, theoretical physics (e.g., quantum mechanics and string theory), theoretical computer science (e.g., construction of expanders), and many other areas. They may be studied from different points of view---algebraic, analytic, geometric and representation theoretic---and these different studies find different applications. The project aims to synthesize the different points of view, to understand their fundamental unity, and to allow results of one type to be translated into another context.Read moreRead less
On the Geometry of Liquid Crystals and Biological Membranes. This project will provide fundamental insights via realistic mathematical models into two areas of technological importance in the development of certain advanced materials involving liquid crystals and biomembranes. The use of liquid crystal devices is ubiquitous in the design of optical display units. Biomembranes are of much current importance, in particular, in connection with sophisticated drug delivery systems. The design of adva ....On the Geometry of Liquid Crystals and Biological Membranes. This project will provide fundamental insights via realistic mathematical models into two areas of technological importance in the development of certain advanced materials involving liquid crystals and biomembranes. The use of liquid crystal devices is ubiquitous in the design of optical display units. Biomembranes are of much current importance, in particular, in connection with sophisticated drug delivery systems. The design of advanced `smart' materials which admit solitonic behaviour is an area at the forefront of materials science and as such is important to the continued development of an advanced technological base within Australia.Read moreRead less
Noncommutative geometry in representation theory and quantum physics. One of the most important problems in natural science is to understand the structure of spacetime at the Planck scale. Mathematical investigations in recent years have predicted that at this scale, spacetime becomes noncommutative. Taking this noncommutativity into account, the project brings together geometry, algebra and quantum mechanics to develop new mathematical theories required for addressing the problem. It promises ....Noncommutative geometry in representation theory and quantum physics. One of the most important problems in natural science is to understand the structure of spacetime at the Planck scale. Mathematical investigations in recent years have predicted that at this scale, spacetime becomes noncommutative. Taking this noncommutativity into account, the project brings together geometry, algebra and quantum mechanics to develop new mathematical theories required for addressing the problem. It promises to make fundamental contributions to both mathematics and theoretical physics. Read moreRead less
Quantum many-body systems with higher mathematical symmetries. Ongoing developments in the experimental realisation of ultracold quantum systems play a leading role in the international effort towards the eventual realisation of quantum technology. This project brings together Australian and US researchers with complementary strengths to develop the mathematical study of fundamental systems of interacting quantum particles of relevance to experiments. The project will ensure that Australian rese ....Quantum many-body systems with higher mathematical symmetries. Ongoing developments in the experimental realisation of ultracold quantum systems play a leading role in the international effort towards the eventual realisation of quantum technology. This project brings together Australian and US researchers with complementary strengths to develop the mathematical study of fundamental systems of interacting quantum particles of relevance to experiments. The project will ensure that Australian researchers participate in and benefit from international developments in a leading edge area of fundamental research. It will also contribute to training students in rapidly advancing areas with the capacity to contribute to a wide range of problems, including the emerging technology of quantum devices.Read moreRead less
Quantum vertex algebras. The project aims to address major mathematical problems on the structure and representations of the families of quantum groups and vertex algebras associated with Lie algebras. Originating from solvable lattice models in statistical mechanics, the theory of quantum groups has important connections with, and applications to, a wide range of subjects in mathematics and physics. The project will extend and develop explicit theory of both the classical and quantum versions o ....Quantum vertex algebras. The project aims to address major mathematical problems on the structure and representations of the families of quantum groups and vertex algebras associated with Lie algebras. Originating from solvable lattice models in statistical mechanics, the theory of quantum groups has important connections with, and applications to, a wide range of subjects in mathematics and physics. The project will extend and develop explicit theory of both the classical and quantum versions of the vertex algebras which are of importance to conformal field theory and soliton spin-chain models.Read moreRead less
Quantum Spectra. Fundamental quantum processes will play a key role in emerging technologies in the twenty-first century across diverse industries including quantum information technology, quantum computers and electronics, quantum optics, nanoscale quantum microscopes and superconductor technology. Australia has a strong base of expertise in the underpinning quantum disciplines. This project in strategic basic research within mathematical physics will develop a comprehensive and consistent math ....Quantum Spectra. Fundamental quantum processes will play a key role in emerging technologies in the twenty-first century across diverse industries including quantum information technology, quantum computers and electronics, quantum optics, nanoscale quantum microscopes and superconductor technology. Australia has a strong base of expertise in the underpinning quantum disciplines. This project in strategic basic research within mathematical physics will develop a comprehensive and consistent mathematical description of quantum processes. This research will lead to a deeper understanding of quantum processes, keep Australia at the leading edge of international developments and increase Australia's capacity to develop and implement these new technologies.Read moreRead less
Equivalence Relations, Group Actions, and Descriptive Set Theory. This project is a contribution to basic and foundational research in the area of Pure Mathematics generally and Mathematical Logic specifically. Logic in particular appears in disciplines as diverse as Computer Science,Linguistics, and Philosophy, and the development of logic in these fields has been profoundly influenced by the foundational work of mathematical logicians. The innovative techniques introduced in this proposal will ....Equivalence Relations, Group Actions, and Descriptive Set Theory. This project is a contribution to basic and foundational research in the area of Pure Mathematics generally and Mathematical Logic specifically. Logic in particular appears in disciplines as diverse as Computer Science,Linguistics, and Philosophy, and the development of logic in these fields has been profoundly influenced by the foundational work of mathematical logicians. The innovative techniques introduced in this proposal will enable Australia to maintain a position at the forefront of Pure Mathematics, and by recruiting a recent winner of the highly prestigious Karp prize the country will be instantly established as one of the leading centers of Mathematical Logic.Read moreRead less
Low-order dynamical models for non-linear fluid behaviour in quasi two-dimensional plasmas. Two complex systems in which a magnetic field imposes two-dimensional fluid motions are turbulent fusion plasmas and magnetospheric plasmas. A distinctive property of 2D flows is the inverse energy cascade, whereby energy streaming into large-scale vortices, coherent structures, or sheared flows gives a remarkable propensity for self-organizing behaviour. This can be exploited to govern or guide our respo ....Low-order dynamical models for non-linear fluid behaviour in quasi two-dimensional plasmas. Two complex systems in which a magnetic field imposes two-dimensional fluid motions are turbulent fusion plasmas and magnetospheric plasmas. A distinctive property of 2D flows is the inverse energy cascade, whereby energy streaming into large-scale vortices, coherent structures, or sheared flows gives a remarkable propensity for self-organizing behaviour. This can be exploited to govern or guide our response to such systems. We propose to investigate the dynamics of momentum and energy exchange in these plasmas, using reduced dynamical models and bifurcation and stability mathematics. Expected outcomes are improved prediction of magnetospheric substorms and confinement of fusion plasmas.
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