Διατμηματικά / Διεπιστημονικά Σεμινάρια

“Waves That Won’t Break: Solitons and the Secret Order of Integrable Systems”

Thursday, March 26 2026

Lecturer:

Barbara Prinari, Professor of Mathematics – University of Buffalo, U.S.A.
Fulbright U.S. Scholar

Σύνδεσμοι Υλικού Σεμιναρίων

“Waves That Won’t Break:
Solitons and the Secret Order of Integrable Systems”

Solitons are waves with an attitude: they travel long distances, interact strongly with one another, and yet emerge completely unchanged. First observed in shallow water and now appearing across physics and mathematics, solitons are the hallmark of integrable systems—nonlinear equations that are far more orderly than they first appear. In this talk, we’ll explore how hidden symmetries, infinite families of conservation laws, and exact solution techniques make these systems solvable. Along the way, we’ll meet the KdV and NLS equations, the inverse scattering transform, even rogue waves. And the striking idea that nonlinearity is not always “messy”, and it does not always lead to chaos. The overarching goal is to show why solitons are not just mathematical curiosities, but a unifying concept linking fluids, optics, quantum theory, and geometry.

“Gravity, the Standard Cosmological Model, and the Puzzles of Modern Cosmology”

Wednesday, November 26 2025.

Lecturer:

Leandros Perivolaropoulos, Department of Physics

“Gravity, the Standard Cosmological Model, and the Puzzles of Modern Cosmology”

“Ride the Wave, go with the Flow”

Wednesday, October 30 2024.

Lecturer:

Michail Xenos, Department of Mathematics
Theodoros Chorikis, Department of Mathematics

“Ride the Wave, go with the Flow”

It is widely known that the phrase ‘Everything is Mathematics’ or ‘Mathematics is everywhere’ exists. In today’s lectures, we will attempt to narrow the meaning of ‘everywhere’. From enormous cigar-shaped clouds and chaotic planetary storms to lethal shrimp and blood flow and aneurysms within the human body, we will see how all these phenomena, although seemingly unrelated at first glance, obey strict laws of nature: differential equations and nonlinear mathematical models.