Lecture series: Frontiers of pure, applied and computational mathematics + geoscience

The current blurring of boundaries between what might be traditionally considered as “pure” and “applied” mathematics was eloquently described in the National Academy of Sciences report “Mathematical Sciences in 2025”,

... that the discipline is expanding and that the boundaries within the mathematical sciences are beginning to fade as ideas cross over between subfields and the discipline becomes increasingly unified. In addition, the boundaries between the mathematical sciences and other research disciplines are also eroding.

The aim of the proposed lecture series is to highlight some of these fast changing frontiers, showing how the range of applications has dramatically expanded, and how new directions in mathematics and statistics are being developed and motivated by applications. We aim to invite speakers from a variety of mathematical backgrounds to give a lecture aimed at a general scientifically literate audience to describe both current and future developments.

Below, we highlight five areas and possible speakers. All the areas are generally important to problems in geo- and space sciences. Indeed, we would aim to have five lectures in total: Quantum computation, Data analysis and machine learning, Discrete probability, Complex and dynamical systems and Fluid mechanics.

The lecture series will be held in the Department of Mathematics, co-organized by Alan Reid, in collaboration with the Departments of Computational and Applied Mathematics and Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.