Nonlinear phenomena can be divided into two broad classes, namely, self-organizing behaviour and chaos. Our research group is mostly concerned with systems in nature that are self-organizing. This means that they are made up of many small parts that interact with each other, and as a result of this interaction the system as a whole shows some kind of organized behaviour or pattern.
One important example of a self-organizing system is the soliton or solitary wave. Solitons are long-lived localized disturbances of a medium, often in the form of moving pulses, that can pass through one another. They have been used to model phenomena ranging from nerve impulses to tsunamis. Important practical applications include sending information down optical fibres efficiently and optical processing. Our group is concerned with analysing solitons and other types of nonlinear waves in a variety of media such as plasmas, optical fibres, and autocatalytic chemical reactions. In addition, the group is looking at complex systems such as traffic and ecosystems which in some cases involve fractals and chaos.
The group has links with physics, biophysics and conservation biology departments and institutes in the UK, France, USA, and here at Mahidol.
Both theoretical and computational studies are carried out.
solitons and nonlinear wave existence and stability
solitary wave formation and interaction
reaction-diffusion systems
pattern formation
fractals
chaos
ecosystems
traffic
networks
combinatorics
Recent Publications for download
Room: P518
Contact: Dr Michael A. Allen
Room: P508
Phone: 02 201 5754
e-mail: