Math & Cultural
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| Location: | Washington, D.C.: Dirksen Senate Office Building |
"From the Color of Birds to Nanomaterials and New Technology"
Featuring Dr. Rodolfo H. Torres (University of Kansas)
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
12:00-1:30 PM Eastern Time
Washington, D.C.: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G11 (Google Maps)
RSVP by November 23, 2018 via email: pxo@ams.org (Paula Olugbemi)
Lunch will be served. Space is limited at this widely attended public event.
Surprisingly, investigating the beautiful coloration of bird feathers with mathematical tools has led scientists to new technologies in the fabrication of materials of highly saturated colors, adaptive camouflage properties, and efficient photovoltaic attributes. Fundamental mathematics research has explained the origin of the blue and green colors of birds and other animals and revealed the existence of intricate photonic crystal structures. These astonishing structures provide inspiration for research involving nanomaterials.
Like a prism that decomposes a beam of light into a rainbow of colors, Fourier analysis transforms the geometrical arrangements observed in electron microscope images of tissues of living organisms into a mathematical rainbow of basic components. This "decoding/decomposing" process both deciphers and quantifies order. Come explore this world of bright colors and tiny, ordered structures with Dr. Rodolfo Torres, whose research has been funded by the National Science Foundation for the past 25 years and includes collaborations with biologists, engineers, and economists.
Rodolfo H. Torres is a University Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the University of Kansas. He has also served for six years in Office of Research, first as Associate Vice Chancellor and then until recently as the Interim Vice Chancellor and President of KU Center for Research Inc. He was named Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in the society's inaugural class.
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