This workshop, supported by the Simons Foundation,
has been postponed because of Covid-19 concerns.
What: 2020 Simons Workshop on Singularities in Fluids and Plasmas
When: Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:00 am to Fri, Mar 20, 2020, 5:00 pm
Where: Princeton Center for Theoretical Science (PCTS: 4th floor, Jadwin Hall)
Directions: https://www.princeton.edu/meet-princeton/visit-us
Overview

Finite-time singularities of the Navier-Stokes equation is a Millenium Prize problem (http://www.claymath.org), and has significant consequences for theories of vortex reconnection and fluid turbulence. The analogous problem of current singularities (whether finite-time or not) has deep implications for fast magnetic reconnection and plasma turbulence. Such current singularities, even when regularized by dissipation, have significant physical implications for problems as diverse as stellar coronal heating (Parker problem) and turbulence, neutron star mergers (including general relativistic effects), space weather, and last but not least, three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equilibria in toroidal plasmas which play a critical role in determining optimum topologies for magnetic confinement. A recent multi-institutional research program led from Princeton University and supported by the Simons Foundation on “Hidden Symmetries and Fusion Energy” (https://hiddensymmetries.princeton.edu) provides a great and timely opportunity to bring together a diverse group of computational physicists, fluid dynamicists, mathematicians, and plasma physicists to discuss problems of common interest at this Workshop.
Schedule
Simons Workshop on Singularities in Fluids and Plasmas |
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Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, March 18-20, 2020 | |||
March 18 | |||
8:00‑9:00 | Registration and Continental Breakfast | ||
SESSION I Chair: A. Bhattacharjee | Speaker | Video Link | |
9:00‑9:10 | Welcome and logistics | A. Bhattacharjee PPPL |
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9:10‑9:50 | A few remarks on singularities in incompressible fluids | Peter Constantin Princeton University |
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9:50‑10:30 | Non-conservation of the dimension for passive and active scalars | Jose Rodrigo University of Warwick |
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10:30‑11:00 | Coffee | ||
11:00‑11:40 | On a sufficient condition for finite-time singularity in Kida-Pelz flow | Chung-Sang Ng University of Alaska-Fairbanks |
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11:40‑12:10 | Discussion of Session I Talks | ||
12:10‑1:30 | Lunch | ||
SESSION II Chair: P. Helander | Speaker | Video Link | |
1:30‑2:10 | Inverse problem for an equilibrium current sheet | Robert Dewar Australian National University |
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2:10‑2:50 | Current singularity formation in line-tied magnetic fields | Yao Zhou PPPL |
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2:50‑3:20 | Coffee | ||
3:20‑4:00 | Lessons learned about the existence and accessibility of three-dimensional ideal MHD equilibria | Joaquim Loizu EPFL-Lausanne |
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4:00‑4:40 | Machine learning from a continuous viewpoint | Weinan E Princeton University |
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4:40‑5:10 | Discussion of Session II talks | ||
6:30‑9:00 | Workshop Dinner: Nassau Inn | ||
March 19 | |||
8:30‑9:00 | Continental Breakfast | ||
SESSION III Chair: R. MacKay | Speaker | Video Link | |
9:00‑9:40 | Quasisymmetric solutions to forced MHD | Daniel Ginsberg Princeton |
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9:40‑10:20 | An ideal magnetic evolution contains the seed of its own destruction | Allen Boozer Columbia University |
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10:20‑10:40 | Coffee | ||
10:40‑11:20 | Near-singular currents and flows near magnetic islands in magnetically confined plasmas | Allan Reiman PPPL |
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11:20‑12:00 | Elimination of MHD current sheets by modifications to the plasma wall in a fixed boundary model | Eugenia Kim Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University |
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12:00‑12:30 | Discussion of Session III talks | ||
12:30‑1:30 | Lunch | ||
SESSION IV Chair: P. Constantin | Speaker | Video Link | |
1:30‑2:10 | Singularities in high-Reynolds number turbulence | Katepalli Sreenivasan New York University |
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2:10‑2:50 | The power spectrum of passive scalar turbulence in the Batchelor regime | Jacob Bedrossian University of Maryland |
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2:50‑3:20 | Coffee | ||
3:20‑4:00 | Uniqueness of Whitham’s highest cusped wave | Alberto Enciso ICMAT |
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4:00‑4:40 | Lagrangian and Dirac constraints and geodesic flow for the ideal incompressible fluid and MHD | Philip Morrison University of Texas at Austin |
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4:40‑5:10 | Discussion on Session IV talks | ||
March 20 | |||
8:30‑9:00 | Continental Breakfast | ||
SESSION V Chair: R. Dewar | Speaker | Video Link | |
9:00‑9:40 | The Hasimoto-Madelung transform and skew-mean-curvature flow in Euler hydrodynamics | Boris Khesin University of Toronto (remotely) |
Join Zoom Meeting |
9:40‑10:20 | Singular equilibria and meta-stability | Steven Cowley PPPL |
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10:20‑10:40 | Coffee | ||
10:40‑11:20 | Formation of current sheets in relativistic magnetospheres of black holes and neutron stars |
Alexander Philippov Center for Computational Astrophysics, The Flatiron Institute |
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11:20‑12:00 | Near-singular dynamics of kinetic ballooning instabilities in plasmas | Ge Dong PPPL |
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12:00‑1:00 | Lunch | ||
SESSION VI Chair: A. Bhattacharjee | Speaker | Video Link | |
1:00‑1:40 | On the derivation of the wave-kinetic equation in weak turbulence | Pierre Germain Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University |
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1:40‑2:20 | Singularities and phase-space dynamics in wave physics and turbulence | Ilya Dodin PPPL |
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2:20‑3:00 | Shock formation in compressible fluids | Vlad Vicol Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University |
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3:00-3:40 | Discussion and Adjournment |