Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

We consider an atomic model of deposition of materials over a quasi-periodic medium. The atoms of the deposited material interact with the medium (a quasi-periodic interaction) and with their nearest neighbors (a harmonic interaction). This is a quasi-periodic version of the well known Frenkel-Kontorova model. We consider the problem of whether there are quasi-periodic equilibria with a frequency that resonates with the frequencies of the medium. We show that there are always perturbative expansions. We also prove a KAM theorem in a-posteriori form. We show that if there is an approximate solution of the equilibrium equation satisfying non-degeneracy conditions, we can adjust one parameter and obtain a true solution which is close to the approximate solution. The proof is based on an iterative method of the KAM type. The iterative method is not based on transformation theory as the most usual KAM theory, but it is based on a novel technique of supplementing the equilibrium equation with another equation that factors the linearization of the equilibrium equilibrium equation.

I will give a series of elementary lectures presenting basic regularity theory of second order HJB equations. I will introduce the notion of viscosity solution and I will discuss basic techniques, including probabilistic techniques and representation formulas. Regularity results will be discussed in three cases: degenerate elliptic/parabolic, weakly nondegenerate, and uniformly elliptic/parabolic.

Dvoretzky's theorem tells us that if we put an arbitrary norm on n-dimensional Euclidean space, no matter what that normed space is like, if we pass to subspaces of dimension about log(n), the space looks pretty much Euclidean. A related measure-theoretic phenomenon has long been observed:the (one-dimensional) marginals of many natural high-dimensional probability distributions look about Gaussian. A natural question is whether this phenomenon persists for k-dimensional marginals for k growing with n, and if so, for how large a k? In this talk I will discuss a result showing that the phenomenon does indeed persist if k less than 2log(n)/log(log(n)), and that this bound is sharp (even the 2!). The talk will not assume much background beyond basic probability and analysis; in particular, no prior knowledge of Dvoretzky's theorem is needed.

We discuss asymptotic-in-time behavior of time-like constant meancurvature hypersurfaces in Minkowski space. These objects model extended relativistic test objects subject to constant normal forces, and appear in the classical field theory foundations of the theory of vibrating strings and membranes. From the point of view of their Cauchy problem, these hypersurfaces evolve according to a geometric system of quasilinear hyperbolic partial differential equations. Inthis talk we will focus on three explicit solutions to the equations:the Minkowski hyperplane, the static catenoid, and the expanding de Sitter space. Their stability properties in the context of the Cauchy problem will be discussed, with emphasis on the geometric origins of the various mechanisms and obstacles that come into play.