Seminar/ Colloquium

Title : Patterns, Broken Symmetries and Computation: Emergent complexity in collective dynamics of diffusively coupled oscillatory media.
Speaker : Prof. Sitabhra Sinha, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai.
Date : 18/08/2017, 3:30 PM (Friday), Seminar Hall, First Floor.

Abstract: 

Collective dynamics of networks of coupled excitable and oscillatory units can result in surprising spatio-temporal patterns, often arising from spontaneous symmetry breaking. Such patterns are often seen in models motivated by natural systems – such as the brain, the gravid uterus and plankton blooms in the open seas – and have been experimentally studied using chemical systems such as the Beluosov-Zhabotinski reactions in microfluidic devices. This talk will present our recent exploration of the fascinating world of pattern formation in spatially extended excitable/oscillatory media. We will conclude with the suggestion of an intriguing possibility, viz., of using our understanding of the genesis & stability of these patterns and their transformations into each other in order to perform “chemical computation”.