Zu Chongzhi Distinguished Lecture ——Math-Physics Series
Jul 9, 2020 9:00 – 10:30 am, US Eastern time; 9:00 – 10:30 pm, China time
Slides for the talk (click)
Recorded video for the talk (click)
Group Locomotion in Fluids
Jun Zhang, New York University and NYU Shanghai
Biography: Jun Zhang, graduated from Wuhan University in China before he earned his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. After a postdoctoral experience in biophysics at Rockefeller University, he came to NYU and started building the Applied Math Lab at the Courant Institute and later he became a faculty member (physics and math) there. His research interest has been in the field of physics of fluids and complex systems, which includes biomechanics or bio-locomotion (organismal swimming and flying, and walking), geophysical fluids (thermal convection, continental dynamics, and erosion), solid-on-solid friction, urban heat-island effect, and self organization phenomena at many different scales.
Abstract: Understanding how animals move is very important to us as we try to comprehend the animal kingdom and be inspired by their strategies when moving about. Subject to physical laws, animal locomotion gaits may look vastly diverse across many species but most of them do share some very common features. For example, birds flap their wings in the air and fish flap caudal fins (tail) in water. Such flapping motions and their interaction with the surrounding fluids has been a central problem in fluid dynamics. In this talk, I will discuss a few simple experiments as we study how animals move in water and air. Through these studies, the familiar phenomena of animal swimming and flying may offer a few surprises.
