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K-State Today

January 31, 2017

Mathematics Colloquium Lecture Jan. 31

Submitted by Reta McDermott

Zhongwei Shen, University of Alberta, will present "Front Propagation Phenomena in Heterogeneous Media" as part of the Mathematics Department Colloquium Lecture series at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, in 122 Cardwell Hall.

The abstract for the lecture is: Front propagation phenomena are ubiquitous in many scientific areas such as biology, combustion theory, ecology, and so on, and have been attracting a lot of study in recent years especially in heterogeneous media.

In this talk, Shen will introduce the mathematical development of front propagation phenomena in reaction-diffusion equations and nonlocal dispersal equations, which have been widely used to model the evolution of species. Shen will first present some basics about traveling fronts in the classical Fisher's equation and Nagumo's equation. Then, Shen will move to front propagation phenomena in reaction-diffusion equations with the focus on periodic traveling fronts and transition fronts in periodic media and heterogeneous media, respectively. It is followed by the introduction of front propagation phenomena in nonlocal dispersal equations and related mathematical challenges. Finally, Shen will introduce some topics for future work in this area.