IRL Presentation - 'Air Friction' from First Principles - Prof. David Meyer

David Meyer

Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of California, San Diego

Host: Asif Shakeel 

'Air Friction' from First Principles

Abstract: Analyzing friction or drag on a moving object has been a research topic in mathematical physics since at least Newton's time. In this talk I will use ideas from first year physics and probability to give a simple derivation of a formula showing how it depends on speed.

Remarks: This talk will be about the results of a research project I did with one of my undergraduate students at UC San Diego last year. It illustrates how thinking about a problem in a different way can be advantageous, and how even undergraduate students can do creative research in mathematics and physics.

Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Location: Innovation Reasearch Lab, I-112 (building I2, close to Behavioral Sciences building)

Brief bio of speaker: 

David Meyer is Professor of Mathematics at UC San Diego. He was an undergraduate math major at the Johns Hopkins University and received his PhD in mathematics from MIT. His research is in mathematical and theoretical physics, and also in applied data analysis.