Joint Sydney and UNSW Stochastic PDEs Seminar: Ben Goldys -- Controllability of heat flow for harmonic maps (part 2)

Transitions between equilibria in dynamical systems subjected to small random
perturbations arise in diverse fields such as physics, engineering, population dynamics,
economics, and neural network theory.  The theory of large deviations offers tools to
analyse these phenomena.  An important concept in this theory is the controllability of
the associated deterministic (ordinary or partial) differential equation obtained by
replacing the noise with a deterministic control, representing an external force driving
the system.  

However, large deviations theory for stochastic partial differential equations under
geometric constraints remains largely unexplored, and the controllability of the
corresponding deterministic PDEs is poorly understood.  In this talk, we will present
results from a recent paper [https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.08990], which investigates the
heat flow from the circle to the 2D sphere - a setting where geometric constraints play
a crucial role.  This talk is meant to initiate a series of meetings devoted to large
deviations theory for equations with geometric constraints. 
See the link and password below)
https://unsw.zoom.us/j/83425275881?from=addon
Meeting ID: 83425275881
Password: 041345