Title: Networks of Oscillators That Synchronize Themselves

Speaker: Steven Strogatz, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cornell University

Abstract: Populations of coupled oscillators are pervasive in the natural world, from swarms of rhythmically flashing fireflies to groups of pacemaker cells in the heart. Some systems of oscillators have the amazing ability to synchronize themselves, such that all the oscillators end up firing in unison, no matter how disorganized they were at the start. Prof. Strogatz will discuss the simplest mathematical model of a self-synchronizing system, the so-called Kuramoto model, and discuss how it behaves on different kinds of networks. Using techniques from nonlinear dynamics, numerical linear algebra, and computational algebraic geometry, he will discuss new bounds, conjectures, and open problems about synchronization on dense deterministic networks and sparse random ones, based on his joint work with Alex Townsend, Mike Stillman, and Martin Kassabov.

**Please note, this event will be held both in-person (ESAM Conference Room, M416) and online via Zoom at the following link: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/91677636188 (passcode: Reiss2022)

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