CRC 1173 has been funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) since July 2015.
Waves fascinate scientists in general and mathematicians in particular. Two of our senses -- seeing and hearing -- are based on the propagation of light and sound waves, the human heartbeat is driven by depolarization waves, and most modern communication is based on electromagnetic waves. Waves are everywhere, and understanding their behavior leads us to understand nature.
For mathematicians there is a second reason to study waves: The beauty and diversity of the related mathematics itself. Wave propagation is described by a number of intriguing equations with beautiful properties, and the mathematics of these equations has brought about many celebrated results.
This CRC brings together 16 scientists from analysis and numerics of the KIT Department of Mathematics. Another four researchers from optics and photonics, biomedical engineering, and applied geophysics work on the interfaces to applications. Two mathematicians from the universities of Stuttgart and Tübingen also contribute to the CRC.
Our goal is to analytically understand, numerically simulate, and eventually manipulate wave propagation under realistic scenarios by intertwining analysis and numerics. Our research will focus on typical wave phenomena such as the emergence of standing and traveling waves or wave fronts, oscillations and resonances, dispersion, wave guidance, reflection, refraction and scattering of waves. Thanks to important results from the last decades, decisive advances in many challenging problems are now within reach. At this point, however, we are convinced that significant progress in the understanding of wave phenomena will benefit greatly from a broader perspective.
