Mathematics Colloquia and Seminars

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Description

The interface between two fluids such as air and water attracts a wide variety of living organisms. They produce ripples on the interface, which could be exploited for crawling, feeding and sensing. This talk presents two recent projects inspired by the feeding behavior of snails and the sensory range of insects. In both projects, mathematical models are formulated as free-boundary problems in fluid dynamics. We obtain new asymptotic and numerical results in good agreement with physical experiments. The findings elucidate the key factors governing the impact of small moving organisms on their larger surrounding environment.