Growth and Motion in a Random Medium

NSF Award Search · 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $200,000 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

This project will conduct fundamental research on mathematical models that describe complex interactions, growth, and motion in an irregular environment with stochastic unpredictability. The goal is to discover general mathematical laws that govern such systems, which appear quite different at small scales and at large scales. It is important to understand how different kinds of small-scale evolution lead to different large-scale systemwide behaviors. Real-world phenomena modeled by these mathematical systems include the motion of vehicles in traffic, data packets in communication networks, fluid particles in a tube, fluid spreading in a porous medium, epidemics advancing in a population, and the fluctuations of a polymer chain in a fluid. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that these mathematical models capture essential features of physical reality. Understanding complex interactions has profound implications for science and engineering and thereby for society. This project also produces educational materials on the mathematics of random phenomena and provides training for young researchers. This project investigates mathematical models of growth and motion in random media, such as first-passage percolation, the corner growth model, and directed polymer models. The outcomes of this project are mathematically rigorous descriptions of the behavior of mathematical models of growth and robust tools for their analysis. A central question pursued in this project is to

Key facts

NSF award ID
2448375
Awardee
University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
SAM.gov UEI
LCLSJAGTNZQ7
PI
Timo O Seppalainen
Primary program
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
Estimated total
$200,000
Funds obligated
$200,000
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
07/01/2025 → 06/30/2027