AM-SURE Summer Lecture Series

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Robotic experiments and math models of schools and flocks

Speaker: Leif Ristroph and Christiana Mavroyiakoumou, Applied Math Lab, Courant Institute

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 1314

Date: Friday, May 26, 2023, 1 p.m.

Synopsis:

Why fish swim together in schools and why birds fly in flocks are enduring mysteries. These biological phenomena inspire interesting physics questions about interactions through fluid flows. This talk will focus on what we've learned in Courant's Applied Math Lab (AML) about the fluid dynamics of collective locomotion. We'll discuss lab experiments on "mock flocks" of robotic flyers and math models of the same that are simplified but highly effective. Flow interactions prove to have a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality: They can help to organize the members into orderly positions, but they also disrupt such formations through a new type of traveling wave.