Interdisciplinary Nonlinear Dynamics 438-3:
Networks of Coupled Active Elements
Hermann Riecke & Sara Solla
Spring Quarter 2002Meets Tue-Thu 1:30-3:00, Tech L550
Tuesday, April 2, 2:00, Tech L550
(first official day of TuTh classes is Thursday)
Synchronized firing in neuronal ensembles, traveling waves in heart muscle, coherence in wide-aperture lasers, frequency locking in Josephson junction arrays; these are but a few examples of collective behavior that arises when individual active elements are coupled into large arrays. In this course we will examine the conceptual framework and mathematical and numerical tools used to analyze such networks according to the type of connectivity (global versus local) and coupling (pulse versus intensity versus phase). The course will consist of lectures followed by a project to be carried out by teams of two students each. The projects will be designed to explore a particular problem through study of seminal papers and analytical and/or numerical investigation of some of its aspects.
a) Spiral waves in oscillatory medium b) discrete network of excitatory and inhibitory elements
Prerequisites:
Interdisciplinary Nonlinear Dynamics 438-1 or equivalent (see instructors)
| Hermann Riecke | Sara Solla |
| Room M458 | Room F322 |
| (847) 491-8316 | (847) 467-5080 |
| h-riecke@northwestern.edu | solla@northwestern.edu |