SMRI Seminar: Tucsnak -- The Mathematics of Aquatic Locomotion

SMRI Seminar 

Thursday 19th November, 1-2pm 

Title: The Mathematics of Aquatic Locomotion 

Speaker: Marius Tucsnak, University of Bordeaux 

Location: SMRI Seminar Room (Macleay Building, Rm 301) 

Abstract: How does an aquatic organism turn changes in its shape into forward motion or
a change of direction? In mathematical models of swimming, the partial differential
equations governing the fluid are coupled to the ordinary differential equations
governing the swimmer’s translation and rotation.  The swimmer’s motion, in turn,
changes the domain occupied by the fluid.  

I will discuss the well-posedness of these coupled systems and then look at swimming
from the perspective of control theory.  The control input is geometric: it is the way
the swimmer changes its shape over time.  Which motions can be achieved by choosing a
suitable sequence of deformations? I will compare low-Reynolds-number models, in which
viscous forces dominate, with models for higher Reynolds numbers, in which fluid inertia
plays a central role.  The talk will draw on earlier joint work and touch on recent
developments.