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Justin Corvino, assistant professor of mathematics, will speak on “Why Everyone Should be Interested in Partial Differential Equations” 12:05-12:45 p.m. today in Pardee Hall room 227.
During the informal session, Corvino will introduce some of the topics that his Partial Differential Equations class will explore next spring. He also will answer questions about the subject and the course.
“Partial differential equations (PDEs) are used to model physical phenomena like heat flow and diffusion, vibrating membranes, and the propagation of electromagnetic and sound waves,” he says. “Furthermore, PDEs also arise in geometry, where solutions of certain equations represent interesting geometries, like the geometry of soap films. Some physical theories like general relativity and quantum mechanics rely heavily on PDEs. In this course we will focus on techniques used to understand three fundamental equations (the Laplace-Poisson equation, the heat equation, and the wave equation), but these techniques are often useful in the study of other equations as well.”
Corvino, who joined the faculty this fall and is teaching Calculus II, gave a talk Tuesday on “The Einstein Constraint Equations” as part of the Lafayette-Lehigh Geometry and Topology Seminar. His research interests are differential geometry, general relativity, and partial differential equations. He received an M.S. and Ph.D. in mathematics from Stanford in 1996 and 2000, respectively, and a B.S. in mathematics with a minor in physics from MIT in 1994.