MATH 7170 - Applied Dynamical Systems

John Guckenheimer, fall 2015.

The focus of this course is bifurcations of dynamical systems. These are qualitative changes in a system as parameters are varied. Bifurcation theory develops a systematic strategy to classify and characterize generic bifurcations. Computational methods and applications from across the sciences and engineering will be emphasized. Global bifurcations and chaos will be discussed. The course will have homework exercises due every 2-3 weeks and students will complete a final project consisting of a bifurcation analysis of a system of their choice. Prerequisites are an undergraduate course on differential equations and/or dynamical systems.