“Dynamics of Interacting Particles: Kinetic Boltzmann and N-body Models,” by Dr. Mir Abbas Jalali

Speaker: Mir Abbas Jalali
Affiliation: UC Berkeley

“Dynamics of Interacting Particles: Kinetic Boltzmann and N-body Models”

Abstract:
Collective migration in complex multi-component systems, such as protoplanetary disks and the flocks of animals and robots, is the main physical mechanism behind the self-organization and formation of observed patterns in nature and engineered systems. Using a density wave theory and methods of Hamiltonian mechanics, I show how the self-gravity and direct collisions of solid particles and gas molecules can generate long-lived structures in protoplanetary disks. Applications of my theory to the main asteroid belt in the solar system, and the possibility of controlling the distribution of near-Earth orbital debris, are discussed. I also present experimental test results for a generation of small space observatories whose collaborative N-body swarms can be used for deep-space communication and space-based interferometry.

Biosketch: Mir Abbas Jalali is a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, and professor of Mechanical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology, Tehran. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering (Applied Mechanics) from Sharif University of Technology and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Florida State University where he worked with the late Prof. Christopher Hunter on various problems in complex fluids, kinetic theory and galactic dynamics. He has been a visiting member at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, where he collaborated with Scott Tremaine to generalize Schwarzschild’s equilibrium models and showed how density waves can shape the structures of debris disks. He has also held research positions at Institutd’Astrophysiquede Paris and Leiden University. His research is in the general area of dynamics, from discrete systems to continuous media and fluids.

Date/Time:
Date(s) - May 06, 2016
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Location:
38-138 Engineering IV
420 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles CA 90095