Venue Date Speaker and Affiliation University of Stirling 16 May 2025 Miguel Pinar (University of Granada)

Exponential asymptotics and applied mathematics Divergent series are the invention of the devil, and it is shameful to base on themany demonstration whatsoever.” – N. H. Abel.The lecture will introduce the concept of an asymptotic series, showing how useful divergentseries can be, despite Abel’s reservations. We will then discuss Stokes’ phenomenon, wherebythe coefficients in the series appear to change discontinuously. […]

Seeing is deceiving: The mathematics of visual illusions Illusions have been a constant source of amusement but they are also a unique gateway into understanding the way we perceive the world and how the brain processes information. The simplest visual illusions often involve a primary element—be it a line or a circle—that undergoes deformation or displacement due to the influence […]

Layer potentials – quadrature error estimates and approximation with error control When numerically solving PDEs reformulated as integral equations, so-called layer potentials must be evaluated. The quadrature error associated with a regular quadrature rule for evaluation of such integrals increases rapidly when the evaluation point approaches the surface and the integrand becomes sharply peaked. Error estimates are needed to determine […]