Halmos Mathematics Talk Focuses on Slender Body Theory

The Halmos College of Arts and Sciences Department of Mathematics will host guest speaker William Mitchell, Ph.D., as part of their Mathematics Colloquium Series.  Mitchell will be discussing the “Slender Body Theory” – a widely used modeling tool applied to the mechanical movement of tiny, tubular, biological structures.  Because of ease and simplicity, bacterial flagella and similar long, thin forms are often modeled as one-dimensional curves rather than as more complicated objects with volume and surface area.  New evidence, however, suggests doing so would make a poor approximation in some circumstances.

Mitchell is an assistant professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. As an undergraduate, he mainly studied theoretical mathematics. After teaching at the junior high level in Guinea and Burkina Faso, he decided to move in a more applied direction and studied fluid mechanics, earning an M.S. from the University of Alaska – Fairbanks and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Calculus, computational linear algebra, differential equations, and modeling are his favorite courses to teach.

“Modeling and Simulation of Microscopic Fibers in a Viscous Fluid”, will take place on Thursday, April 14^thfrom 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. on Zoom.  The entire NSU community, including students at all levels of mathematics, is invited and encouraged to attend.

Posted 03/31/22