STOR Colloquium: Avanti Athreya (Duke University and SAMSI)

Metastability in Nearly-Hamiltonian Systems

In physics, metastability refers to the existence of long-lived but ultimately unstable states of a physical system, such as a supersaturated solution. Mathematically, metastability can be understood in the context of large deviations for dynamical systems with random perturbations.  We summarize some of the background (i.e. the Freidlin-Wentzell theory) and describe how metastability can be interpreted for a nearly-Hamiltonian system with one degree of freedom.

Refreshments will be served at 3:30pm in the 3rd floor lobby of Hanes Hall