Thomas P Witelski, Associate Professor

Contact Info:

Office Location:	295 Physics Bldg
Office Phone:	00-1-(919) 660-2841
Email Address:
Web Page:	http://www.math.duke.edu/~witelski

Teaching (Fall 2008):

• MATH 211.01, APP PART DIFF EQU & COMPX VAR Synopsis

  Physics 259, MWF 03:05 PM-03:55 PM

Office Hours:

On Leave

Tom Witelski
The Mathematical Institute
OCIAM
24-29 St Giles
Oxford
OX1 3LB
UK

Email witelski@maths.ox.ac.uk

Education:

PhD	Caltech	1995
BS in Engineering, Summa Cum Laude	Cooper Union School of Engineering	1991
Diploma	Stuyvesant High School, New York	1987

Specialties:

Applied Math

Research Interests: Fluid Dynamics, Perturbation Methods, Asymptotic Analysis, Nonlinear Ordinary and Partial differential equations

My primary area of expertise is the solution of nonlinear ordinary and partial differential equations via perturbation methods. Using asymptotics along with a mixture of other applied mathematical techniques in analysis and scientific computing I study a broad range of applications in physical systems. Focuses of my work include problems in viscous fluid flow, industrial applications, flow in porous media, mathematical biology, and granular materials. Through my research I am working to extend the understanding of nonlinear diffusion processes in physical systems. Studying problems in a range of different fields has given me a unique opportunity to interact with a diverse set of collaborators and to transfer analytic techniques across the traditional boundaries that separate fields.

Areas of Interest:

Fluid dynamics
Partial differential equations
Asymptotics/Perturbation methods
Industrial and Applied mathematics

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

• Mihaela K. Froehlich  

Postdocs Mentored

• Rachel Levy (July, 2005 - June, 2007)  
• Anand Jayaraman (September 1, 2004 - August 15, 2005)  
• Sandra Wieland (January 1, 2004 - December, 2004)  
• Linda Smolka (April 8, 2002 - July 1, 2004)  
• Karl Glasner (2001/12-2002/05)  
• Mark Bowen (2000/03-2001/12)  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. M.B. Gratton and T.P. Witelski, Coarsening of dewetting thin films subject to gravity, Physical Review E, vol. 77 no. 016301 (2008), pp. 1--11 [e016301]
2. David G. Schaeffer, Michael Shearer and T.P. Witelski, Boundary-value problems for hyperbolic PDE related to steady granular flow, Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, vol. 12 no. 6 (2007), pp. 665-699 (DOI: 10.1177/1081286506067325.)
3. R. Levy,M. Shearer and T.P. Witelski, Gravity-driven thin liquid films with insoluble surfactant: smooth traveling waves, European Journal of Applied Mathematics, vol. 18 no. 6 (2006), pp. 679--708
4. T.P. Witelski, R. Levy and M. Shearer, Growing surfactant waves in thin liquid films driven by gravity, Applied Mathematics Research Express, vol. 2006 no. 15487 (2006), pp. 1-21
5. Mark Bowen and Thomas P. Witelski, The linear limit of the dipole problem for the thin film equation, SIAM journal on applied mathematics, vol. 66 no. 5 (2006), pp. 1727--1748

Recent Grant Support

• FRG - Collaborative Research: New Challenges in the Dynamics of Thin Flims & Fluid Interfaces, National Science Foundation, DMS-02-44498, 2003/09-2006/08.      
• CAREER Award, NSF, 2003/09.      

Conferences Organized

• Euromech 490 Workshop: Dynamics and Stability of thin liquid films and slender jets, Organising Committee, September 19, 2007 - September 21, 2007  
• Third Annual Graduate Student Mathematical Modeling Camp, Faculty Mentor, June 6, 2006 - June 9, 2006  
• UCLA-IPAM-NSF workshop on Thin Films and Fluid Interfaces, Organizing Committee, January 30, 2006 - February 2, 2006  
• MPI 2005-21th Annual Workshop on Mathematical Problems in Industry, Organizing Committee, June 13, 2005 - June 17, 2005  
• MPI 2004-20th Annual Workshop on Mathematical Problems in Industry, Organizing Committee, June 21, 2004 - June 25, 2004  
• First Annual Graduate Student Mathematical Modeling Camp, Mentor, June 15, 2004 - June 18, 2004  
• Dynamics Days 2004, Local Organizing Committee + Webmaster, January 2004  
• Nonlinear dynamics of thin films and fluid interfaces, Organizing Committee Member, November-December 2003  
• MPI 2003-19th Annual Workshop on Mathematical Problems in Industry, Organizing Committee, June 2003  
• MPI 2002-Eighteenth Annual Workshop on Mathematical Problems in Industry, Organizing Comittee, June 2002  
• Nonlinear Differential Equations, Mechanics and Bifurcation 2002: A conference in honor of David G. Schaeffer, Member of organizing committee, 2001-02  
• MPI 2001-Seventeenth Annual Workshop on Mathematical Problems in Industry, Organizing Committee, June 2001  
• Minisymposium MS1:Instabilities and Breakdown of Asymptotic Models inContinuum Mechanics, SIAM Conference on Materials Science 2000, Co-Organizer, with Mary Pugh (U-Penn), May 2000  

• Journal of Engineering Mathematics
• Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems B
• European Journal of Applied Mathematics
• Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications
• International Journal of Mathematics and Math Sciences

• Research on fluid dynamics of thin viscous films

• Mathematical Problems in Industry Workshop 2007: University of Delaware, June 11-15,2007
  

• Scientific Computing and Applied Mathematics
• Applied Math Web Resources guide

• myX: a simple C/C++ programming interface for X11 graphics

• As seen on RateMyProfessors.com
• Tom's favorite integral
• Great quotes in mathematical modeling
  
  • Colin: It's obvious!
    Peter: It's "obvious" in what sense?
    [...]
    Colin: [paraphrased] Nevermind, its wrong :)