Nonlinear dynamics: Chaos, and what to do about it?

INSTRUCTOR: Predrag Cvitanović
INSTRUCTOR HOMEPAGE: www.cns.gatech.edu/~predrag
TIME: Spring semester 2014, TR 12:05-1:25
ROOM: Howey S204
EXPECTED ENROLLMENT: 30

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

An advanced introduction to chaotic dynamics, with emphasis on applications to chaotic dynamical systems encountered in science and engineering. The theory has much in common with (and complements) statistical mechanics and field theory courses; partition functions and transfer operators are applied to computation of correlations and spectra of classical chaotic systems.

Topology of flows - how to enumerate orbits, Smale horseshoes

Dynamics, quantitative - periodic orbits, local stability

Role of symmetries in dynamics

Transfer operators - statistical distributions in dynamics

Spectroscopy of chaotic systems - dynamical zeta functions

Dynamical theory of turbulence

The course is in a part advanced seminar in nonlinear dynamics, aimed at PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and advanced undergraduates in physics, mathematics, chemistry and engineering. It is offered every 3. year or so.

TEXTBOOK:

P. Cvitanović  et al., ChaosBook.org
This course is a pre-publication test run of experimental MOOC based on the Part I of e-textbook. Your active participation in improving the book and the MOOC is very much encouraged.

START:

Tuesday Jan 7 2014, 12:05 in Howey S204,
with detailed schedule and reading assignments posted on

COURSE HOME PAGE:

ChaosBook.org/~predrag/courses/PHYS-7224-14