Applied Mathematics Seminar

The description of the dynamics of a disordered system made up of many strongly interacting components represents the fundamental hurdle to advances in many areas of chemistry, physics, material science and the social sciences. In this talk I will describe our recent work on models of the glass transition, perhaps the simplest manifestation of the onset of highly cooperative motion in a physical system. The talk will aim to clarify the mathematical problems underlying cooperative dynamics and to identify some of the key insights from recent research.