Sydney Dynamics Group Seminar: Alfonso Sorrentino, University of Rome Tor Vergata -- Sydney Dynamics Group Seminar

Seminar : Sydney Dynamics group Seminar.  
Day/time : Thursday, August 13 at 4:00 PM.
Location : SMRI seminar room (A12 Macleay Room 301).  
Speaker : Alfonso Sorrentino, University of Rome Tor Vergata 

Title: Dynamical and Spectral rigidity of mathematical billiards 

Abstract: A mathematical billiard is a system that describes the inertial motion of a
point mass inside a strictly convex planar domain, with elastic reflections at the
boundary.  The study of its dynamics is deeply intertwined with the geometric properties
of the domain.  While it is evident that the shape determines the dynamics, a more
subtle and challenging question is how knowledge of the dynamics can be used to
reconstruct the shape of the domain.  This leads to many intriguing inverse problems and
unresolved rigidity questions, which have been the focus of active research in recent
decades.  In this talk, I will address questions related to the dynamical and spectral
rigidity of these systems and discuss recent results obtained toward their resolution