IISER Pune invites you to:
Fifth Annual Homi Bhabha Memorial Public Lecture
Chance ki baat hai : How complexity arises in dynamical systems
Date: Thursday, November 15, 2018
Time: 6:15 pm
Venue: Sir C.V. Raman Auditorium, Lecture Hall Complex, IISER Pune
Abstract: Chance is crucial in a diverse range of situations. To paraphrase Monod (1971), nature relies on chance and not on destiny. Depending on the context, chance can mean different things to different people. A chance event may either be a consequence of intrinsic fluctuations, or may be due to incomplete or imprecise knowledge. The notion of contingency is closely tied into that of chance, and thus uncovering the underpinnings - whether this is due to underlying stochastic phenomena or underlying chaotic dynamics - is of great interest.
Using examples from dynamical systems theory, I will discuss the role of chance when there are several coexisting dynamical attractors, with attractor basins that are intermingled in a complex manner. Small uncertainties in determining the initial state can lead to very large uncertainties in the outcomes. Intrinsic noise, on the other hand, plays a major role in small systems where the dynamics is stochastic.
Both phenomena occur in biological systems and are exploited, at a systems level, in different ways. On the one hand, chance provides the possibility of complex dynamical states such as chimeras, and on the other, chance allows for stochastic switching both in the realm of dynamics within a cell or within a population
About the Speaker: Prof. Ram Ramaswamy obtained Ph.D from Princeton and after a post-doctoral stint at California Institute of Technology, he returned to India and joined TIFR Mumbai. In 1986, he was among the first members of the School of Physical Sciences at JNU, Delhi. During 2011-15, he was the Vice-Chancellor of Hyderabad University. He is the current president of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore. He has made significant contributions in the areas of nonlinear dynamics, statistical physics and complex systems.
The lecture is free and open to all.
