Date:	Mon, September 5, 2011
Time:	17:15
Place:	Research II Lecture Hall

Abstract: Nonlinear waves and coherent structures are ubiquitous phenomena in the evolution of spatially extended systems. Examples include the action potential for nerve impulse propagation, solitons in optical fibers, waves in fluids, spiral waves during cardiac fibrillation, and also invasion fronts of infectious diseases. In this talk I introduce some universal mathematical mechanism that can generate such self-organized coherent structures. This pertains to bifurcation theory, variational principles, symmetry and stability theory.