Penn State Erie-School of Science-Seminars

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SCHOOL OF SCIENCE

Seminar Schedule for 2008-09

July	October	January	April
August	November	February	May
September	December	March	June

View separate schedule for Open House Nights in Astronomy.

Date	Speaker	Institution	Title
April 28, 2009 2:00 pm 169 Nick	Dr. Antonio Mastroberardino	Penn State Behrend	The Fermi-Pasta-Ulam Problem
May 18, 2009 11:15 am 144 Hammermill	Catherine N. Malele	Binghamton University, State University of New York	Synthesis and Characterization of Flourescent Conjugated Polymer Chemosensors
May 19, 2009 2:00 pm 123 Science	John Moran	Cleveland State University	Hemeproteins Bathed in Ionic Liquids: Examining the Role of Water and Protons in Redox Behavior and Catalytic Function
May 21, 2009 2:00 pm 123 Science	Adrienne Carver	University of Massachusetts - Amherst	Reactivity and Dynamics of Protein/Nanoparticle Adducts
June 15, 2009 1:00 pm 117 Science	Tia Deas, Ph.D.	New York State Dept. of Health	Viruses: They Just Won't Behave
June 19, 2009 1:30 pm 118 Science	Kelly Schalk, Ph.D.	University of Maryland	Pathogenic Factors that Promote Bacterial Colonization in Humans

The Fermi-Pasta-Ulam Problem

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The FPU problem refers to the numerical experiments performed on the Los Alamos MANIAC computer during the 1950’s by Enrico Fermi, John Pasta, and Stanislaw Ulam. These experiments, which were a test of a hypothesis of statistical mechanics known as the equipartition of energy, marked the birth of numerical simulation in the study of nonlinear science and, through the work of Zabusky and Kruskal, triggered the development of soliton theory and the inverse scattering theory. In this talk, we review the physical model that serves as the basis for the experiments and its relation to the kdV equation. We conclude with a brief discussion of the impact the FPU problem has had on the development of nonlinear science.

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