Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

Many dynamical systems may be subject to stochastic excitations, so to find an efficient method to analyze the stochastic system is very important. As for the complexity of the stochastic systems, there are not any omnipotent methods. What I would like to present here is a brief introduction to quasi-non-integrable Hamiltonian systems and stochastic averaging method for analyzing certain stochastic dynamical systems. At the end, I will give some examples of the method.

Despite advances in treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, liver transplantation remains the only hope for many patients with end-stage liver disease due to HBV. A complication with liver transplantation, however, is that the new liver is eventually reinfected in chronic HBV patients by infection in other compartments of the body. We have formulated a model to describe the dynamics of HBV after liver transplant, considering the liver and the blood of areas of infection. Analyzing the model, we observe that the system shows either a transcritical or a backward bifurcation. Explicit conditions on the model parameters are given for the backward bifurcation to be present, to be reduced, or disappear. Consequently, we investigate possible factors that are responsible for HBV/HCV infection and assess control strategies to reduce HBV/HCV reinfection and improve graft survival after liver transplantation.

Fourier's Law assert that the heat flow through a point in a solid is proportional to the temperature gradient at that point. Fourier himself thought that this law could not be derived from the mechanical properties of the elementary constituents (atoms and electrons, in modern language) of the solid. On the contrary, we now believe that such a derivation is possible and necessary. At the core of this change of opinion is the introduction of probability in the description. We now see the microscopic state of a system as a probability measure on phase space so that evolution becomes a stochastic process. Macroscopic properties are then obtained through averages. I will introduce some of the models used in this research and discuss their relevance for the physical problem and the mathematical results one can obtain.

The Bendixson conditions for general nonlinear differential equations in Banach spaces are developed in terms of stability of associated compound differential equations. The generalized Bendixson criterion states that, if some measure of 2-dimensional surface area tends to zero with time, then there are no closed curves that are left invariant by the dynamics. In particular, there are no nontrivial periodic orbits, homoclinic loops or heteroclinic loops. Concrete conditions that preclude the existence of periodic solutions for a parabolic PDE will be given. This is joint work with Professor James S. Muldowney at University of Alberta.