Title: A survey of equilibrium in the plane
Speaker: Nathan Hayford
Date: Friday, September 4th
Time: 11:00am
Abstract: Finding equilibria of charge distributions in the plane is a classical problem, which has found numerous applications in many other areas of mathematics and physics, including approximation theory, random matrices, quantum gravity, and integrable systems, among others. In this talk, I will survey some classical results from the theory of equilibrium distributions (using the language of potential theory), and provide some physical intuition for why such formulas hold. We will consider equilibrium with and without external fields. Furthermore, I will discuss some of the more modern applications of the subject; in particular, I will sketch how the equilibrium measures help us describe the asymptotics of certain families of orthogonal polynomials, as well how such problems appear in integrable systems, if time permits.
Link to zoom meeting: https://zoom.us/j/93365223865 Video: Youtube.