RTG: Frontiers in Applied Analysis

The increased use of sophisticated mathematical models in applied fields calls for a mathematical workforce with a strong theoretical foundation and a clear vision of how concepts of analysis can be applied to meet challenges at the frontiers of science and technology. The research and training of this RTG focuses on applied analysis, which encompasses partial differential equations, calculus of variations, geometric analysis, stochastic analysis, numerical analysis, optimal transportation, and their applications to relevant models in materials science, geometry processing, and machine learning. This RTG will create a rich ecosystem of activities that is attentive to the needs of trainees at each level. Undergraduate students will be introduced to research in applied analysis and will work alongside graduate students and faculty in innovative course-based undergraduate research and intense summer undergraduate research programs. An undergraduate research conference will provide a venue for presentations, networking, and learning about career opportunities in applied mathematics. This RTG will provide comprehensive mentorship for graduate students and postdocs in a stimulating environment with topics courses, weekly working groups, seminars (including a new seminar series focused on uses of applied analysis across disciplines), workshops, and summer schools. The training will be enhanced by regular professional development activities and visits to international partners from leading research groups in Europe. Overall, the RTG will help attract students to applied mathematics, and will create a technically trained US workforce with expertise in advanced tools of applied analysis ready to engage with future challenges that arise in applied disciplines. Scientifically, the RTG will spark collaborative efforts to address compelling problems in applied analysis; in particular, variational problems for novel materials, geometric structures in minimization problems, new descriptions of geometry processing tasks, quantitative study of mixing and enhanced dissipation, innovative geometries and gradient flows allowing for accurate computation in high dimensions, and modeling and simulation of problems involving thermomechanics. These collaborations will bridge disciplines, and lead to the creation of new mathematics necessary to address applied challenges. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.