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Dr Yiping Ma

Assistant Professor

Department: Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering

I am an assistant professor in mathematics at ϲ.

My research interests include, on the mathematical side, nonlinear waves, pattern formation, dynamical systems, statistical physics, and related fields, and on the application side, metamaterials, nonlinear optics, climate dynamics, fluid mechanics, and related fields. I am part of the research group on mathematics of complex and nonlinear phenomena.

My teaching interests include differential equations, linear algebra, multivariate calculus, applied analysis, computational mathematics, and mathematical modeling.

Previously, I held postdoctoral positions at University of Colorado at Boulder, Northwestern University, and University of Chicago, and obtained my PhD in physics at University of California at Berkeley advised by Edgar Knobloch.

My personal website can be found .

My Google Scholar profile can be found .

Yiping Ma

My research belongs to nonlinear dynamics, statistical physics, and related fields, focusing on the following three areas.

Nonlinear waves; Metamaterials; Nonlinear optics: 

I am interested in nonlinear waves in optical and mechanical metamaterials. A central theme is nonlinear edge waves in optical and mechanical topological insulators, and the overall goal is to elevate the functionalities of optical and mechanical devices using various combinations between topological science and nonlinear science. I am also interested in other types of nonlinear waves including domain walls, vector solitons, self-similar solutions, and dispersive shock waves, which arise in diverse settings including the coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation, the hyperbolic nonlinear Schrödinger equation, the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation, and the 2D Benjamin-Ono equation.

Climate dynamics; Statistical physics; Fluid mechanics: 

I am interested in meltwater patterns in cold environments, e.g., the polar regions. The overall goal is to construct efficient parametrization schemes for such ice-water mixtures using various models in the statistical physics of phase transitions, a prime example being an Ising model that explains the geometric characteristics of Arctic melt ponds. I am also interested in some branches of fluid mechanics including Rayleigh-Bénard convection. I have also worked on other applications of statistical physics including minority game and other problems in fluid mechanics including Homann stagnation-point flow.

Pattern formation; Dynamical systems: 

I am interested in spatially localized states in driven dissipative systems, e.g., localized Turing patterns in forced oscillatory systems and Turing-Hopf localized states in the Brusselator model. The overall goal is to understand the interplay between the interface dynamics between two patterns and the intrinsic dynamics within each pattern. The prototypical solutions can be understood using spatial dynamics, i.e., dynamical systems methods in space rather than in time. I have also worked on other applications of dynamical systems including cooperation and free-riding in social science.

David Snee Nonlinear Edge Waves in Mechanical Topological Insulators Start Date: 01/10/2017 End Date: 29/06/2021

Physics PhD December 01 2011


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