SMY:n etäkollokvio 18.11.2026 | Suomen matemaattinen yhdistys

Phase Separation from Attractive Interactions

Time: Wednesday, November 18th at 16:15.

Place: Over Zoom and in colloquium watch events at mathematics departments (see bottom of page)

Speaker: Martin Burger, Universität Hamburg

Chaired by: Andreas Hauptmann, University of Oulu

Abstract: Phase separation is a fundamental phenomenon arising in multicomponent systems across materials science, biology, and social dynamics — from cell sorting and pedestrian lane formation to ion channels. This talk discusses how self-organized phase separation emerges in transport-cross-diffusion models, driven by motility and interaction rather than energetic bistability. We exploit gradient flow and entropy structures to establish global existence and characterize the large-time behavior of the resulting systems. Vice versa, we discuss how these problems recently drove progress on cross-diffusion systems.

Speaker introduction: Martin Burger is Lead Scientist at DESY and Full Professor of Mathematics at Universität Hamburg. A world-leading expert in inverse problems, PDEs, and mathematical imaging, he held chairs at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and Universität Münster. He has received many international recognitions, including the Calderón Prize and an ERC Consolidator Grant, and was invited plenary speaker at ECM 2021, ICM 2022, and ICIAM 2023. He serves as editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Applied Mathematics.

Where to watch?

The colloquium is broadcasted on Zoom on Wednesday, November 18th at 16:15.

This page will be updated with information about local watch events as they are confirmed.