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Department of Mathematical science and Advanced Technology (MAT)

Seminar Schedule

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/12/18(Tuesday) 13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Gen Li (MAT)
Title:
On the energetics and stability of a minimal fish school
Abstract:
The behaviors of living beings provide amazing examples of aggregated dynamics that result from complex social reasons. Fish schools are an archetypal example of how local interactions lead to complex global decisions and motions. From the fluid dynamics perspective, hydrodynamic interactions between neighbors in fish schools have often been associated with swimming efficiency strategies, considering how each individual in the school is affected by the vortical flows produced by its neighbors.

The topic of our present study is local hydrodynamic interaction between individuals in small schools of fish, as described in earlier experimental work by Ashraf et al. We therefore study the minimal subsystem of fish school, consisting in two fish swimming together.

The physical basis for fish schooling is examined using three-dimensional numerical simulations of a pair of swimming fish, with kinematics and geometry obtained from experimental data. Energy expenditure and efficiency are evaluated using a cost of transport function, while the effect of schooling on the stability of each swimmer is examined by probing the lateral force and the lateral and longitudinal force fluctuations. We construct full maps of the aforementioned quantities as functions of the spatial pattern of the swimming fish pair and show that both energy expenditure and stability can be invoked as possible reasons for the swimming patterns and tail-beat synchronization observed in real fish. Our results suggest that high cost of transport zones should be avoided by the fish. Wake capture may be energetically unfavorable in the absence of kinematic adjustment. We hereby hypothesize that fish may restrain from wake capturing and, instead, adopt side-to-side configuration as a conservative strategy, when the conditions of wake energy harvesting are not satisfied. To maintain a stable school configuration, compromise between propulsive efficiency and stability, as well as between school members, ought to be considered.

-Reference
Ashraf, I. et al. Simple phalanx pattern leads to energy saving in cohesive fish schooling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, 9599–9604 (2017). Ashraf, I., Godoy-Diana, R., Halloy, J., Collignon, B. & Thiria, B. Synchronization and collective swimming patterns in fish (Hemigrammus bleheri). Journal of the Royal Society Interface 13 (2016).

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/12/4(Tuesday) 14:00-16:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Daisuke Tagami(Kyushu University)
Title:
Mathematical aspects of numerical simulations and its applications to industrial problems
Abstract:
We introduce mathematical foundations of domain decomposition methods for magnetic field problems, and its applications to huge-scale computational models. Owing to the unique solvability of mathematical models, we have succeeded at the computations of ultra-huge-scale computational models of a magnetic field problem, whose numbers of degrees of freedom is about a few billion. We show some numerical examples of applications to practical problems; for example, a thermal therapy device with a precise human-body model.

Moreover, we introduce some numerical analysis results from the mathematical points of view, which improve accuracy and efficiency of practical numerical computations; for example, some numerical computations of flow problems by using finite element methods and particle methods.

Finally, we also introduce related activities of our institute (Institute of Mathematics for Industry, Kyushu University); for example, researching groundbreaking mathematical technologies, it works to solve mathematical problems that private companies have by joint or commissioned research.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/11/27(Tuesday) 11:00-12:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Ettore Barbieri (MAT)
Title:
Extreme Deformations of the Elastica for non-conservative forces
Abstract:
The Elastica is a set of nonlinear differential equations describing the deformation of thin filaments. The applications of these equations range from computer vision to DNA modelling. Even though these equations have been studied extensively, little is known of their solution for non-conservative forces.
Examples of non-conservative forces include follower forces, such those forces that always remain perpendicular to the deformed shape.
I will present some closed-form solutions of the Elastica under distributed and concentrated loads.
Unprecedented shapes emerge when the magnitude of the force becomes exceedingly large. I will also analyse the stability of such solutions and the implications from an energetic point of view.
For example, band gaps appear in the strain energy release rates.
Finally, I will discuss the challenges in constructing the experiments aimed at validating the solutions.
This work is in collaboration with Dr Misseroni and Prof Pugno, both at the University of Trento (Italy).

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/11/6(Tuesday) 13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Natsuki Hosono (MAT)
Title:
The performance model of smoothed particle hydrodynamics with the interaction-list-sharing method for many-core architectures
Abstract:
The demands for the optimizing particle-based methods with short-range interaction forces such as those in smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is increasing, especially for many-core architectures.
However, because particle-based methods require a large amount of memory access, it is challenging to obtain high efficiency for low-B/F many-core architectures.
Hence, an efficient technique, the so-called “multi-walk” method, was developed in an N-body gravitational field.
The key of the multi-walk method is in sharing of the interaction lists with multiple particles.
The shared interaction list offers an efficient use of the cache memory in the double-loops operations for calculating the interactions and reduces the main memory access.
This technique is known to greatly improve the performance of N-body simulations.
However, such performance improvement is not clear for the problems with short-range interaction forces such as those in SPH, because the total cost of floating point operations increases when using the shared interaction list.
In this paper, we examine the tradeoff relations between the memory and the cost of floating point operations to optimize the SPH code.
In particular, we predict the wall-clock time depending on the number of particles in one group of interaction list for a given device's bandwidth and flops.
To validate our prediction model, we measured the wall-clock time spent on a device.
Our model is useful for establishing the efficient choice of the number of particles in one group for the given bandwidth and flops.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/10/30(Tuesday) 13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Shun Nomura(MAT)
Title:
Velocity structure of experimentally produced turbidity current and development of concentration profiling technique by ultrasound backscatter echo signal
Abstract:
Turbidity current flowing with suspended particles is one of the major factors of marine geology. Originally, the real turbidity currents are difficult to observe because no one knows when and where it initiates, but several of them are observed direct or indirect methods. Recent field observations of real turbidity currents are introduced and their damage risks to marine infrastructures are explained.
Then the velocity profiles in experimentally produced turbidity current by continuous suspension supply are discussed. It is found that the unique convex type velocity structure is appeared after passing the unsteady part and it is preserved to the distal area, which would be a key to enhance the sediment transport in long distance.
Additionally, the concentration profiling technique based on ultrasound back scatter echo signal is explained and its applicability to observe inner density profile in turbidity current is discussed by the comparison with image analysis technique.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/10/23(Tuesday) 13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Daisuke Nishiura (MAT)
Title:
SPH simulation of wave channel  -Revival edition featuring Davide-
Abstract:
The EPFL in Switzerland has studied about tsunami by using a wave channel in laboratory experiment. On the other hand, the MAT has developed the large scale SPH simulation for the tsunami study. However, we need to validate the accuracy and reproducibility of our SPH simulation to apply the numerical model for actual engineering problems. So, there are many good benefits for us to collaborate with each other. As a result of collaboration research, numerical model can be validated by comparing with many experimental data. Furthermore, more complicated phenomena can be simulated by using a numerical model. As a first step, we investigated the wave height and velocity profiles in the case of without buildings. The reproducibility of our SPH simulation was validated and then some points to be improved were pointed out. In this seminar, some results of the collaboration research will be shown towards the investigation of wave impacts on buildings.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/10/16(Tuesday) 13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Takehiro Miyagoshi (D-EARTH)
Title:
About dynamo simulations I want to start, and secondary convection beneath the plate
Abstract:
In the seminar, firstly, I will introduce dynamo simulations which I would like to start although I do not have new results yet. One of the recent interesting discoveries for the Earth’s core is that the thermal conductivity of the fluid metal in the core may be several times larger than the value which was believed in the past. Due to the high conductivity, the age of the inner core is estimated as only several hundred million years. These are important factors to consider the driving source of the geodynamo. From the other viewpoint, we have gotten new findings about convection structure change of liquid metal from experimental studies (collaborating with Dr. Yanagisawa). I would like to talk about dynamo calculations I want to start which are inspired from these new discoveries.
Secondary, I will show numerical simulation results about the secondary convection beneath the moving plate although it is not directly related to the first topic at all. It is known that the heat flow near the ridge is almost proportional to the inverse square root age which is derived from the cooling by the thermal diffusion, but it deviates from the estimation far from the ridge (e.g., Treatise on Geophysics, vol.7, pp.288). For one of the explanations of this deviation, secondary convection beneath the plate (Parsons 1978; Treatise on Geophysics, vol.7, pp.291) is suggested, but it has not been studied in detail in studies of mantle convection simulation. I will show our numerical simulation results of mantle convection in which the secondary convection is formed.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/10/9(Tuesday) 11:00-12:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Mikito Furuichi
Title:
Progress of stress chain analysis of large-scale DEM simulation of accretionary prism formation
Abstract:
Understanding the stress state in accretionary prisms that generate great earthquakes and tsunami, is one of the grand challenges of modern geology. Seamount subduction is generally thought to have strong control on tsunami and earthquake generation. In this contribution, we investigated the stress state associated with a seamount entering the accretionary prisms using real-scale numerical sandbox experiments. The simulations are based on the large-scale Discrete Element Method (DEM) and use over a billion particles. The simulation of the horizontal shortening of the granular layer with conic indenter shows concaved margins similar to the accretionary prism. The movement of the indenter strongly undulates the thrusts and forms complex lateral stress structures. We assessed the stress state using a stress chain analysis inside the sand layer. Below the initial thickness of the sand layer, the indenter creates a stress field characterized by compaction, while above the initial thickness, strike-slip motion induces compressional stresses oriented along the conjugate frontal thrusts. These two processes cause a rotation of the principal stresses with depth. The technical update from the last study is the use of periodic boundary condition which improves the accuracy of Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) analysis and naturally handles oblique shorting of the sandbox. Thus, we also show the preliminary result of the sandbox test with oblique shortening condition.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/10/2(Tuesday) 11:00-12:15
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Davide Wüthrich (EPFL)
Title:
Extreme Hydrodynamic impact onto buildings
Abstract:
Tsunamis, Impulse waves and dam-break waves are rare, but catastrophic phenomena, associated with a large number of casualties and severe damages on infrastructures. However, previous events such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2011 Tohoku Japan tsunami showed that planning and measures can be implemented to limit human losses and reduce reconstruction costs.
During this seminar, the influence of building geometry on the resulting wave-induced loads is overviewed and discussed. Based on a large experimental program carried out at EPFL-LCH in Switzerland, this research generates unsteady flows through a vertical release technique. Initially, the main hydrodynamics properties of both dry bed surges and wet bed bores are identified and characterized in terms of wave profiles, front celerity and velocity profiles. Subsequently, the wave impact against a free-standing building with openings ranging from 0 to 84 % is investigated, measuring forces and moments in all directions. For the impervious configurations, results showed good agreement with the classical hydrodynamic force computed as a function of the momentum flux. The presence of openings induced a flow through the buildings, decreasing the upstream water depths and resulting into a linear reduction of the maximum horizontal force, when compared to the corresponding impervious configuration. The orientation of the building and the presence of debris within the flow also showed to have a key role in the loading process. The final purpose of this study is to provide engineers with practical information for the design of safer vertical shelters in tsunami prone areas.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/9/25(Tuesday) 13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Takumi Tsutaya (Department of Biogeochemistry)
Title:
Modeling the formation of growth layers in human teeth
Abstract:
Stable isotope analysis of dentin serial sections of permanent human tooth has recently proposed as a powerful method to reconstruct chronological dietary change in infancy and childhood, especially for breastfeeding and weaning patterns. By sectioning dentin horizontally in approximately 1 mm thick and analyzing the sections sequentially, dietary change during the period of tooth formation can be reconstructed. The number of research that adopts this method increases. However, human tooth dentin grows like stacked cones, and the growth lines (i.e, Andersen lines) run obliquely compared to the sampling planes. Because these lines are cut horizontally in the existing common method, the derived isotope ratios of individual sections do not represent accurate dietary change but represent moving averages. In this study, obliqueness of dentin growth lines, changes in dentin secretion rate, and dentin outer shape are modeled mathematically, and its effects on stable isotopic reconstruction of weaning ages are discussed. The results of this study suggest that reconstructed weaning ages from the stable isotope ratios of sequentially sectioned tooth dentin deviate from the true weaning ages in a certain condition. Better sampling methods or mathematical models are needed to interpret the stable isotopic results of tooth dentin serial sections more precisely.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/9/11(Tuesday) 13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Arthur Bauville (MAT)
Title:
Structural styles of accretionary prisms with no pre-existing weak layer
Abstract:
Decollements constitute the base of accretionary prisms and fold-and-thrust belts. They allow the occurrence of thin-skinned tectonics in which deformation affects only the rocks above the decollement. Often, a pre-existent structure serves as decollement, e.g. relatively weak evaporite or shale layers, weakly cemented interlayer planes or layers in with high fluid pressure. However, in other places, there is no evidence for pre-existing structures. In this case, the decollement may be seen as a low angle thrust fault. Such fault may be significantly weaker than overlying and underlying rocks because of fracturing, gouge formation, excess fluid pressure or thermal pressurization.
In the absence of a pre-existing weak structure, the base of the prism is as strong as the material prism material. In such case, the critical taper theory predicts than one direction of faulting is parallel to the base, i.e. ideally oriented to serve as a decollement. On one hand, sandbox experiments performed in these conditions lead to the stacking of large sediment slices. On the other hand, several authors suggested that this condition must favor tectonic erosion rather than accretion. Furthermore, some natural accretionary prism also doesn’t show evidence of pre-existing weak structures.
To reconcile these apparently contradictory natural observations experimental results and theoretical deductions, in this study, we systematically investigate the structural style of accretionary prisms with no pre-existent weak layer. We performed numerical simulations based on continuum mechanics to simulate the deformation of sediment. The applied boundary conditions are similar to the ones of a sandbox experiment. We varied the pore fluid factor, cohesion, and plastic weakening coefficient.
The experiment highlights three end-member structural styles. The first one is characterized by underplating with the regular formation of a new frontal thrust. It results in the stacking of large slices of sediment. It is the style characteristics of a sandbox experiment with strong basal friction. The second structural style is characterized by complete underplating with the stacking and exhumation of short slices against the backstop. The last style is characterized by continuous frontal accretion, with a mid-level decollement. In this case, the decollement new frontal thrust is created by splay faulting off the last frontal thrust. The decollement is formed by the connection between successive frontal thrusts.
The transition from one tectonic style to the other is discussed from the viewpoint of the critical taper theory.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/9/4(Tuesday) 13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Tzu-Hao Lin (Department of Marine Biodiversity Research)
Title:
Machine learning-based soundscape information retrieval and its application in the acoustic remote sensing of marine ecosystems
Abstract:
Underwater soundscape, which is a collection of environmental, biological, and anthropogenic sounds, has been considered as an acoustic remote sensing platform of marine ecosystems. By listening to various geophysical events, soniferous animals, and human activities from long-duration recordings, it is possible to investigate the temporal-spatial variability of marine ecosystems. However, the soundscape analysis remains challenging due to the lack of recognition database and simultaneous source interference.

In recent years, information retrieval techniques based on non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) have been employed to separate different sound sources with unique spectral-temporal patterns in an unsupervised approach. NMF is a self-learning algorithm which decomposes an input matrix into a spectral feature matrix and a temporal encoding matrix. Therefore, we can stack two or more layers of NMF to learn the spectral-temporal modulation of k sound sources without any learning database. In this presentation, I will introduce the basic concept of NMF-based blind source separation (BSS) and the application in soundscape-based ecosystem monitoring. Finally, I will discuss how to apply the NMF-based BSS to establish an audio recognition database and facilitate the supervised source separation. Now, we are collaborating with Asi@Connect and deploying a toolbox of soundscape information retrieval on the Asian Soundscape. We intend this project as an open science platform, which aims to facilitate the international collaboration on the observation of soundscape dynamics, and wish to collaborate with researchers from marine science, ecological science, and computer science.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/8/28(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Masanori Kameyama (MAT)
Title:
Struggle towards numerical modeling of 3-D mantle convection with magmatism and plate tectonics
Abstract:
We are developing 3-D numerical models of mantle convection including the effects of mantle magmatism and plate tectonics, in order to deepen the insights into the thermo-chemical evolution of the mantles of terrestrial bodies. The mantle magmatism is modeled by the generation of liquid phase (magma) owing to the pressure-release melting induced by ascending flows of solid-state convection and the motion of the generated magma as a permeable flow through the solid matrix driven by a buoyancy due to the density difference between the solid and the liquid phases. The coherent motion of tectonic plates is, on the other hand, helped by the narrow zones of low viscosity within the highly viscous "lithosphere" along the top cold surface generated by the stress-history-dependent rheology. However, despite their crucial roles in controlling the overall flow structures, these two mechanisms are incompatible with the solid-state convection of the mantle in essence from the numerical aspects: the localized irregularities caused by them severely deteriorate the large-scale numerical solution of solid-state convection particularly by the multigrid method. In this presentation, we will show the current status and outcrops of our attempts to overcome the numerical difficulty, together with some examples of 3-D experiments running on massive (super)computers.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/8/21(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Shunsuke Shimobayashi (MAT)
Title:
Phase transitions in intracellular lipid droplets
Abstract:
Cholesterol is an essential cell membrane component and the dysregulation of cholesterol levels could lead to lethal diseases, such as arteriosclerosis. Due to the hydrophobicity, cholesterol is stored in cell membranes or lipid droplets as cholesterol esters (CEs) after the esterification. Interestingly, cholesterol modulates the physical properties of cell membranes and sometimes causes phase transitions, which affects the functions of membrane proteins, such as receptors and transporters. Meanwhile, the occurrence of phase transitions in lipid droplets and biological significance have been still mysterious.

In this seminar, we qualitatively show the intracellular phase transitions in lipid droplets, which are caused by CEs, and discuss the physical principal behind the internal structure using reconstituted artificial lipid droplets and the frank free energy model. Moreover, we would like to show the ongoing work on quantitative investigation of the intracellular phase transitions using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS).

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/7/31(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
Japanese
Speaker:
Seiya Watanabe (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Title:
Multiphase Flow Simulations by Lattice Boltzmann Method with a Block-structured AMR Method on a GPU System
Abstract:
Simulations for multiphase flow require a huge amount of computational resources in order to calculate the phenomenon at the phase interface with high accuracy. We are developing a code of multiphase flow simulations by using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and multiple GPUs. The LBM is suitable for GPU computing and large-scale simulations because it is an explicit scheme to solve weakly compressible flows. Direct numerical simulations of gas-solid two-phase flows such as fluidized bed are realized by coupled the LBM and the discrete element method. By introducing a free surface model into the LBM, we successfully simulated free surface flows interacting with floating objects such as a tsunami.

An adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) method locally assigning high-resolution grids is useful for reducing the computation time of multiphase flow simulations. We propose an efficient GPU implementation of the LBM with an octree-based dynamic AMR method. For a simulation in a rectangular domain, high-resolution grids are locally assigned based on the forest of octree data structure. For efficient coreless access to a GPU global memory, each leaf has a block of uniform grids. A dynamic load balancing is important in distributed implementations of AMR computations. We propose a new domain partitioning method based on the multi-phase-field method for dynamic load balancing of AMR applications.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/7/24(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Yuzuru Yamamoto(Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Progress of the project for seismic-fault drilling on Boso Peninsula
-Subduction-megathrust earthquakes in the Japanese metropolitan area-

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/7/17(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Kenta Ueki (Department of Solid Earth Geochemistry (D-SEG))
Title:
Geochemical Discrimination and feature selection of magmatic tectonic settings using machine-learning-based approach
Abstract:
Geochemically discriminating between magmatism in different tectonic settings is a fundamental problem for the geology and geochemistry. It enables us to understand the processes of magma generation within the Earth’s mantle, based on the identification of differences between the rock-forming conditions and geological processes that are prevalent in different tectonic settings. Here we present an approach where machine-learning (ML) methods are used for quantitative tectonic discrimination and feature selection using global geochemical datasets containing data for volcanic rocks generated in eight different tectonic settings (Back-arc basin, Continental arc, Continental flood, Island arc, Intra-oceanic arc, Mid-ocean ridge, Oceanic island and Oceanic plateau) with data for 24 elements and 5 isotopic ratios.

This study uses support vector machine, random forest, and sparse multinomial regression (SMR) approaches. All Three ML methods allowed the successful geochemical discrimination between magmas formed in eight different tectonic settings, indicating that magmas formed in different tectonic settings have unique geochemical signatures. It means that magma generation processes are closely connected to the tectonic setting. We found that SMR is a particularly interpretable method because it quantitatively identifies geochemical signatures that characterize the tectonic settings of interest and the characteristics of each sample. These ML methods can also contribute to the identification of the tectonic setting of unknown samples. We will present our methodology, results and its geochemical interpretation.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/7/10(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Osamu Kuwano (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Thermal imaging method for frictional interface
Abstract:
Recent experiments conducted at sub-seismic to seismic sliding velocities (mm/s to m/s) show the dramatic weakening in the friction coefficient for a wide variety of rock types due to mechanochemical effects by frictional heating. Consequently, several weakening mechanisms have been proposed depending on the type of rock specimens. Some of them are based on the sample observation and analysis after experiments. Direct observation of frictional contacts during an experiment is indisputable to constrain an elementary process at frictional contacts during slip. We developed thermal imaging system for frictional interface applying the principle two-color thermometry. In this talk, I’ll discuss about accuracy of the present system comparing with conventional infrared thermography.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/7/3(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Takashi Minoshima (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Particle acceleration in solar flares: Current understanding and perspective
Abstract:
Charged particles in space plasma are sometimes accelerated to relativistic energies by an electromagnetic force. The particle acceleration is a ubiquitous phenomenon in Universe, from Earth to distant astronomical objects such as supernovae and accretion disks around massive stars. The Sun is one of powerful particle accelerators in our space, in which electrons and ions are accelerated more than MeV and GeV energies associated with a flare explosion. Understanding the mechanism of particle acceleration is a long standing issue not only in solar physics but also plasma physics, space physics, and astrophysics. Many remote-sensing observations have been devoted to shed light on flare-accelerated particles, and have established that magnetic reconnection plays a fundamental role on the flare and following phenomena. Theoretical and numerical studies have also been conducted to tackle with the particle acceleration mechanism in magnetic reconnection and its associated phenomena (e.g., shock, turbulence, etc.). In this talk, I present current understanding on the flare particle acceleration, and then discuss perspective for a future solar X-ray space telescope mission (proposed by NAOJ) that aims to understand the particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/6/26(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Shigenobu Hirose (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Nonlinear outcome of gravitational instability in irradiated protoplanetary disks
Abstract:
Gravitational instability (GI) is expected in protoplanetary disks when they are young and thus massive. The nonlinear outcome of GI is either fluctuating density waves (= gravito-turbulence) or formation of self-gravitating clumps (= fragmentation). Shear stress associated with the gravito-turbulence can transport angular momentum to evolve the radial mass distribution in protoplanetary disks while self-gravitating clumps may evolve into companion stars or gas giant planets. Therefore, understanding the nonlinear outcome of GI is important for the theory of planet formation. In this talk, I present 3D radiation hydrodynamics simulations to explore the nonlinear outcome of GI in protoplanetary disks with realistic thermodynamics, where the realistic thermodynamics is crucial because temperature affects GI very much. Especially I focus on interpreting the fragmentation condition obtained from our simulations since the evolution of protoplanetary disks differs greatly depending on whether fragmentation occurs or not.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/6/19(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Yasuko Yamagishi (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Development of software to predict downtime of future research cruises
Abstract:
Our project aims to provide useful information for planning future research cruises. For this purpose, we constructed a database system for past cruise information of research vessels belonging to JAMSTEC to estimate observation downtime for each cruise. At present, we are developing application to predict the downtime of future research cruise using the data provided by the database system we developed. We firstly statistically analyzed the relationship between the factors, which are season, sea area, vessel, observation equipment, captain, and so on, and the downtime. As a result, we found some problems in developing the application and we have to improve the database system. In this seminar, we will show the problems and the contents of the database refurbishment.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/6/12(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Manabu Morishige (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Fluid flow inside a thin, low viscosity layer on top of the slab
Abstract:
At least in several subduction zones, thin, low viscosity layers (LVLs) may be needed on top of the slab to explain a low surface heat flow in the fore-arc region. It is still an open question what controls the formation of LVL, but it is likely that hydrous minerals such as serpentine play essential roles for it. Previous studies have shown that fluid can migrate in the updip direction inside LVL by taking into account permeability anisotropy. In this talk I propose another mechanism for such type of fluid flow based on numerical modeling of two-phase flow. I first solve for matrix velocity and dynamic pressure gradient in LVL. Then I solve for fluid flow in and around LVL using the matrix velocity and dynamic pressure gradient obtained in the first step. I find that a large amount of fluid is effectively trapped inside LVL due to the effects of compaction. Also fluid migrates in the updip direction by dynamic pressure gradient. These findings suggest that fluid can migrate along LVL by the combined effects of compaction and dynamic pressure gradient. I also find that fluid tends to stay near the bottom of LVL when non-Newtonian fluid is considered. I will briefly discuss its possible implications for the stability of LVL.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/5/29(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Yoji Kawamura (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Phase reduction approach to synchronization of rhythmic spatiotemporal patterns: From synchronization of beating flagella to metachronal waves of Paramecium
Abstract:
Rhythmic systems and synchronization phenomena are ubiquitous in nature. Of particular interest is synchronization of rhythmic spatiotemporal patterns in physical, chemical, and biological systems. From a mathematical point of view, the oscillatory dynamics can be considered as limit-cycle solutions to partial differential equations. Recently, we have developed a phase reduction method by which such partial differential equations can be reduced to an ordinary differential equation for a single variable called the phase. A key quantity is the phase sensitivity function, which quantifies the phase response of a rhythmic system to weak perturbations applied at each point and at each time. The phase reduction method drastically facilitates detailed theoretical analysis of the synchronization dynamics of rhythmic spatiotemporal patterns. In this talk, we consider the phase reduction approach to elastohydrodynamic synchronization of beating flagella [Kawamura and Tsubaki, Phys. Rev. E 97, 022212 (2018)] as a simple example, and subsequently discuss our mathematical approach to metachronal waves observed in ciliates such as Paramecium.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/5/15(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Sherwood Lan. Smith (RCGC)
Title:
Can we go Off the Grid? - at least for Plankton Ecosystem Modeling
Abstract:
Spatially explicit models, such as the 3-D models run on the Earth Simulator, are typically based on discrete approximations assuming homogeneity within each grid cell. This means that the concentrations of nutrients and organisms, and the environmental conditions that determine their response, are treated as uniform on scales of kilometers (in 3-D models) or perhaps at scales down to meters in vertical 1-D models. Many such models incorporate some representation of plankton, because they are the sustaining base of marine food webs, including ultimately fisheries, and also drive important biogeochemical cycles of nutrients and carbon, which have potentially important feedbacks with climate. However, plankton range in size from micrometers to at most centimeters and therefore experience heterogeneity and intermittency at far smaller scales than such model grids. Recent observations and modeling studies have revealed that sub-grid scale distributions of plankton biomass are more important to ecosystem dynamics than are the mean-field concentrations represented in typical models. I will briefly present two recent modeling approaches that go beyond grid-based approaches by accounting for: 1) the statistical distribution of mm-scale aggregates of phytoplankton and associated intermittency in nutrients and zooplankton, and 2) the active and strategically important motion of plankton that is still largely ignored in ecosystem models. Each of these approaches gives results substantially different from typical gridded models. How can we work together to overcome the remaining challenges and implement these more realistic off-the-grid approaches in spatially explicit models?

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/5/8(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Ryoichiro Agata (CEAT)
Title:
Power-law flow in asthenosphere weakened by subduction zone megathrust earthquake explains observed surface displacement
Abstract:
The deformation transient that follows large subduction zone earthquakes is thought to be the response of a large-scale interaction of viscoelastic flow in the asthenospheric mantle and slip on the megathrust that are accelerated by the sudden coseismic stress change. The surface measurements of the deformation after the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, the best observed megathrust earthquake ever in the world, has been explained by viscoelastic models with Newtonian (linear) stress-strain rate relations. All of these linear models were characterized by a thin low-viscosity (weak) layer along the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) in the uppermost mantle. Here we show that a power-law (nonlinear) flow model derived from laboratory experiments incorporating stress-driven afterslip successfully explains the spatially complex pattern of the observation data in 2.8 year after the Tohoku-Oki earthquake: Viscoelastic flow associated with transient spatial variation of effective viscosity is dominant in overall deformation pattern with opposing horizontal direction on the seafloor and the land, while afterslip accounts for eastward displacement on land and offshore outside the rupture area. These results are obtained using a numerical simulation method incorporating a fully three-dimensional (3D) heterogeneous structure of the subduction zone, using state-of-the-art techniques in computational science. Our result suggests that LAB has a rapid power-law flow after a subduction zone megathrust earthquake, being temporarily weakened due to large coseismic stress. This is in contrast to the presumption that a low-viscosity layer exists at LAB as a permanent structure because of the presence of water, which has been justified by a sharp decrease of seismic velocity there. However, a recent experiment implies that the presence of water does not account for the existence of a low--velocity structure, which agrees to our interpretation.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/4/24(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Muneo Hori (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Problems solved and problems unsolved
Abstract:
In this seminar, I first explain briefly mechanical problems which I have solved in the last few ten years. This would be a portrait of mine as a researcher in the field of continuum mechanics. Next, I present a few problems which I would like to solve in near future. A problem of surface earthquake fault formation, which is a fracture problem of rock mass, is explained, focusing on the numerical analysis of slip propagation on a fault plane. Also, a problem of formulating wave equation in a "principle coordinate system" is explained; the principle coordinate system is the coordinate parallel to the principle stress direction for an isotropic material, and leads to a simpler equation which can be solved more accurately compared with the wave equation formulated in other coordinate systems

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/4/17(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Gen Li (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Unveiling Natural Fish Swimming Mysteries and Improving Underwater Vehicle Technology
Abstract:
1. A general introduction to my multidisciplinary area
My research area is the multidisciplinary crossing domain among biology, fluid physics, and engineering. By developing and using advanced computational fluid dynamics approach, my researches explain the mechanism behind natural fish swimming phenomenon, explore the merit in fish body structure and behaviors. Through bio-mimetic-engineering approach, advantages in natural fish swimming can be absorbed to JAMSTEC underwater vehicle technology.

2. My previous/current researches
· An friendly explanation on the concept and merits of on my Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) scheme will be provided;
· Several presentative publications will be demonstrated;
· One novel philosophy in fish swimming will be demonstrated: fish swimming behavior is NOT optimized for highest propulsive efficiency (thrust × speed ÷ power), instead, fish adjust their body kinematics to optimize towards minimum transport cost (power ÷ speed);
· Several other interesting research projects I have participated will also be introduced: 1) Dolphin swim experiment; 2) A boxfish inspired flying robot; 3) Wind turbine blade design, etc.
· Up-to-date results of a newly started project on fish schooling.
· Experimental/engineering research project supported by external funding.

3. Future research plan in JAMSTEC
1)schooling swimming–a lot of fish form a school to improve swimming performance;
2)micro-structured skin–on fish skin, especially shark, microstructures improve swimming performance

My future plan in JAMSTEC aims to reveal the mechanisms of these two forms of formation-induced hydrodynamic beneficial phenomenon, and provide optimization proposal for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/4/10(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Ettore Barbieri (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
More Than a Peeling - Mathematical Models for Liquid-Phase Exfoliation of Multilayer 2D Nanomaterials
Abstract:
Liquid-phase exfoliation is a promising manufacturing method for industrial-scale production of 2D nanomaterials, like graphene, boron nitride and molybdenum disulfide.
Two-dimensional nanomaterials are one-atom-thick layers with extraordinary mechanical, thermal and electronic properties. Their mass production could lead to technological step-changes in electronic devices, solar panels and batteries.
One way to get 2D layers is to peel off a layered material (for example graphite) by mixing it in a liquid solvent and applying a steady shear flow. The shear forces overcome the adhesion forces and separate the layers.
I will present a simple mathematical model relating the critical values of the shear flow with the adhesion of the substrate and the bending stiffness of the layers.
This model gives practical insights on how to minimise the critical shear flow and maximise the peeling.
This work is a collaboration with the research groups of Dr Botto (Queen Mary University of London) and Prof Pugno (Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy).

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/3/27(Tuesday)10:00-12:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Natsuki Hosono (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Numerical simulations of the giant impact onto the magma ocean
Abstract:
The Giant Impact (GI) hypothesis is one of the most important phenomena in the planetary science and geoscience as the origin of the Moon. According to this scenario, a Mars-sized impactor hit the proto-Earth and generate circumterrestrial debris disc, which is later accumulated into the Moon. Lately, however, the GI has been challenged; the isotope ratios of particular elements show nearly identical values for the bulk component of the Earth and that of the Moon. This means that the circumterrestrial debris disc should come from the proto-Earth. However, to date, almost all of the numerical simulations of canonical GIs has concluded that the post-impact disc tends to be impactor-rich. In order to resolve this mismatch, recently, a scenario to form the Moon from the magma ocean on the proto-Earth is suggested. According to the scenario, the majority of heating occurs in the magma ocean on the proto-Earth, which results in the ejection of the target-originated materials. In order to check whether this scenario is favourable to explain the origin of the Moon, we have carried out a parameter survey of the scenario. I will show the results of the parameter survey. I also will show the brief results of the recent N-body simulations of the accumulation of the Moon carried out on the PEZY-SC processors.

[The Seminner of oversea dispatch research in EPFL]

Date:
2018/3/23(Tuesday)15:00-17:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Shun Nomura (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Experimental investigations on gravity current head and body dynamics
Abstract:
This is the report of one-and-a-half-year oversea dispatch research in EPFL. Turbidity current which flows along the sea or river-floor is important as a formation factor of the subsurface or fluvial topography and a reservoir of petroleum or natural gas for industrial use. In the Bengal fan, it is reported that it travels more than 3800 km and forms gigantic submarine fan. To comprehend the dynamics of turbidity currents, flume experiments are conducted. Using the ultrasound Doppler velocity profiler, the high-resolution velocity field in time and space is obtained. After the intrusion of the turbidity current into the ambient water, uplifted flow is observed as head part and relatively steady part is continued as body part. From an electrical resistance-based depositmeter installed in the flume bottom, the sedimentation process is examined, and specific roles of head and body part is discussed. The discrepancies and similarities between particle laden fluid and saline density current are also confirmed using the lock-gate type experiment. It is found that turbidity current and saline density current have similar flow structure despite of density differences, while they present somewhat different flow systems induced by the presence or absence of particle-fluid interactions.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/3/20(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Daisuke Nishiura (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Virtual Laboratory for Geotechnical Centrifuge Tests
Abstract:
In this study, we developed centrifuge model simulations using the discrete element method (DEM) to quantitatively evaluate the earth pressure acting upon box culvert underground structures during the displacement of reverse faults directly beneath the structures. Furthermore, we investigated the reproducibility of ground deformation modes and the earth pressure upon underground structures, through comparison with experimental results. We thus found that the earth pressure on the top slabs of underground structures is constant at the initial earth pressure; although the side wall earth pressure increases with fault displacement. Moreover, we found that the earth pressure acting upon underground structures is affected by the positional relationship between bottom slabs and fault lines. As a result, the full-scale three-dimensional DEM simulations proposed in this study offers new possibilities for the physical modelling study of ground deformation scenarios and earth pressure acting upon underground structures in geotechnical centrifuge tests.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/3/13(Tuesday)10:00-12:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Takehiro Miyagoshi(Department of Deep Earth Structure and Dynamics Research (D-EARTH))
Title:
Long transition phase of thermal convection with large dissipation number
Abstract:
We have studied thermal convection with large dissipation number which is expected in the interior of massive super-Earths (ten times the Earth’s mass) to understand the effects of adiabatic compression in the interior of super-Earths. In Miyagoshi et al. (2014, 2015), we showed that the vigor of hot ascending plumes from the core-mantle boundary and the efficiency of heat transport by thermal convection are significantly reduced by the effects of adiabatic compression.
In this seminar I will talk about the long initial transient stage of thermal convection with large dissipation number which is expected in massive super-Earths (Miyagoshi et al., 2017). When the shallow mantle is initially hotter than the statistical steady state, as expected by giant impacts at the final stage of the formation of large planets, the long transient stage of layered convection is observed. Its duration is about ten billion years and after that it yields to a whole layer convection which is in the statistically steady state. Our results suggest that the thermal convection in many of massive super-Earths may be still in the initial transient stage rather than the final steady state.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/3/6(Tuesday)15:00-17:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Georg Stadler (Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences New York University)
Title:
Simulation and inference of ice sheet dynamics in Antarctica and Greenland
Abstract:
I will discuss mathematical challenges underlying the modeling, simulation and inference of the dynamics of the Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets. Due to the amount of water stored in these large bodies of land ice, they play a crucial role in predictions of future sea level change. Over long time scales, ice can be modeled as incompressible Stokes fluid with a shear-thinning constitutive law. One of the largest uncertainties in the present state of the ice sheets is the boundary condition between the ice and the underlying bedrock. Estimation of these conditions form surface satellite observations is a mathematical inverse problem. This problem is challenging due to its high dimension, in particular if one is interested in quantifying the degree of uncertainty due to the limited surface observations and the imperfect model equations. Such uncertainties translate to uncertainties in predictions of sea level change, and thus have implications for climate policy.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/3/6(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Arthur Bauville (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT)
Title:
Initiation and dynamics of the decollement and out-of-sequence thrusts in accretionary prisms: a numerical investigation
Abstract:
The dynamics of accretionary prisms has been extensively studied by analytical, analog and numerical models. Generally, the dynamics of the prism is controlled by a relationship between the internal friction of the prism material and the basal friction on the decollement. However, the formation process of the decollement itself remains debated. In some accretionary prisms, such as in the Japan Trench, the presence of a sedimentary layer of lower friction act as decollement layer. In others, such as in the Nankai Trough (Japan), the decollement is a thin zone of high deformation that developed within a thick and seemingly homogeneous sedimentary layer. In this contribution, we investigate the formation of a basal decollement within homogeneous sediments. We use two-dimensional numerical simulations with boundary conditions similar to the ones of a sandbox experiment. The imposed boundary conditions are such that a portion of the sediment is dragged outside the box below the backstop. We consider a visco-elastoplastic rheology. Results show that the imposed kinematic boundary conditions, where part of the sediments are dragged outside the box, imply two different orientations of the principal stress direction as well as different elastic loading rates above and below the corner of the backstop. These stress regimes lead to the formation of Andersonian and Riedel faults above and below the backstop corner respectively. The Riedel oriented fault tends to follow the bottom of the box in a fashion similar to a decollement. A lower shear modulus favors larger displacement on individual faults and on the decollement in particular. We propose that this model may explain the formation of decollement within homogeneous sediments such as observed in the Nankai Trough.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/2/28(Wednesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Eliot Fried (OIST)
Title:
Shape transitions of discoidal high-density lipoprotein particles
Abstract:
The packaging and transport of cholesterol in the bloodstream are mediated by nanoparticles called lipoproteins. The functionality of HDL is thought to be closely tied to shape. A discoidal high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particle consists of an open lipid bilayer bound by the alpha-helical apolipoprotein chain apo A-I. Motivated by experimental and numerical studies revealing that discoidal HDL particles exhibit, flat circular, flat elliptical, and saddle-like configurations, a variational description is developed to explore the stability of a flat circular discoidal HDL particle. While the lipid bilayer is modeled as two-dimensional fluid film endowed with surface tension and bending elasticity, the apo A-I is modeled as a one-dimensional inextensible twist-free rod endowed with bending elasticity. Stability is investigated using the second variation of the energy functional. Various planar and nonplanar instability modes are obtained and corresponding critical values of the salient dimensionless parameters are determined. The first planar and nonplanar unstable modes are tied to in-plane elliptical and transverse saddle-like perturbations. With reference to available data, stability diagrams isolate the combinations of input parameters for which a flat circular discoidal HDL particle is linearly stable or unstable.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/2/20(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Shunsuke Shimobayashi (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Some new findings on the coffee-ring effect
Abstract:
If you spill out a drop of coffee on a table and leave it for a while, you may have found a ring-like stain, which is called as 'coffee-ring'. This phenomenon has become an object of research only twenty years ago, although at least several hundreds of years have passed since human beings started to drink coffee. First, I’ll review what we have learned over the last twenty years in the context of the fundamental mechanism and industrial applications. Second, I’ll present some new findings we have recently discovered. Finally, I’d like to discuss any application possibilities of our findings with you!

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/2/13(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Takayuki Saitoh (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Title:
Variable Inertia Method: an explicit method for mantle convection simulations

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/2/6(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Mikito Furuichi (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Orientation of the SHmax in accretionary prisms from real-scale numerical sandbox experiments
Abstract:
The stress states in accretionary prisms are important for understanding the building and releasing of seismic energy. The in-situ stress states estimated from borehole data in IODP expeditions showed significant deviations in the maximum horizontal stress (SHmax) orientation from the plate convergence. These deviations reflect the 3D structure of the stress state rather than the 2D structure; however the 3D stress structures as well as their effects on the evolution of the accretionary prism are not clear. Analog sandbox experiments can be used to deduce such stress states. We performed real-scale and threfore large-scale numerical sandbox experiments using the discrete element method to understand the 3D stress state in the accretionary prism. The stress chain analyses demonstrate that the in-situ stress orientation from borehole data can be a signal of either the regional direction of plate convergence or the local stress orientation associated with the stress arch. The formation of stress arches is expected by the nonlinearities inherent in crustal deformation and micro-scale perturbations. I want to discuss the possibility of the long-term monitoring of the SHmax orientations in boreholes to support this hypothesis.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/1/30(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Takashi Nakagawa (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Towards understanding geomagnetic secular variations in numerical dynamo simulations with boundary heterogeneities computed from plate-mantle dynamics model
Abstract:
An aim of this type of simulations is to reveal physics behind geomagnetic secular variations, in particular, formation mechanism of geomagnetic polarity reversals and time evolution of non-dipolar components (drifting and standing components). Essentially, those mechanisms have been understood from effects of heterogeneous features of top boundary condition in numerical dynamo simulations but based on seismic tomographic image and very simplified numerical mantle convection model (a series of publications by Olson et al.). However, such a simplified modeling philosophy has avoid addressing with a non-uniqueness of heat flux across the core-mantle boundary. Instead of seismic tomographic image or simplified mantle convection model, I impose heat flux across the core-mantle boundary computed from numerical mantle convection simulations with more realistic material model and surface plate motions reconstructed from geological data (0 to 200 Ma) in numerical dynamo simulations. in the presentation, I will introduce some of historical backgrounds on numerical dynamo simulations with boundary heterogeneities and current status of this type of research project with showing some of preliminary results.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/1/23(Tuesday)14:30-16:30
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Takatoshi Yanagisawa (D-EARTH)
Title:
Flow structures in a liquid metal: formation and destabilization of convection rolls under a horizontal magnetic field
Abstract:
Studies of magnetoconvection and rotating convection by liquid metals are both important for understanding the dynamics of flow in planetary cores. Here we focus on magnetoconvection. We performed laboratory experiments and numerical simulations on the Rayleigh-Benard convection of a liquid metal under an imposed homogeneous horizontal magnetic field.
Flow measurements were performed by Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler that can capture time variations of velocity field even in opaque fluids.
When the intensity of the magnetic field is strong enough, the convection pattern shows almost two-dimensional roll structure whose axes are parallel to the magnetic field. Even at that state, we observed nonnegligible velocities of flow in the direction parallel to the magnetic field. Detailed study on the distribution of the flow elucidated that there exists a kind of suction from the side walls to the center. In reducing the intensity of the magnetic field, this component of flow velocity is getting larger and secondary vortices are advected by the flow between the main rolls. On further reduction of the magnetic field, the main rolls begin to fluctuate with large amplitude and three-dimensional behaviors become dominant.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/1/16(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Yuzuru Yamamoto (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
Liquefaction-induced mass transport deposit: structural characteristics and their sequence of intermittent events
Abstract:
Liquefaction of sandy material is quite a common geologic event in plate subduction margins. Once liquefaction occurred, fluid pressure abruptly increase because the architecture of coarse sediments destroyed and pore fluid has to support the overburden pressure. The liquefied sandy sediments lost the shear strength associated with collapse of the architecture, thus liquefaction is major trigger to make submarine mass transport deposits (MTDs).
In this presentation, we are going to present geometry, inner fabric, and their lateral distribution of liquefaction-induced MTDs developed in the late Miocene accretionary prism and the Plio–Pleistocene trench–slope basin sediments in the Miura and Boso Peninsula, central Japan. The MTDs in this area are originally composed of sand-pebble matrices and the large-sized clasts consisting mudstone or alternating bed of sand and mudstone. The sandy matrix presents no preferred orientation or foliation and commonly intrudes into the large blocks. These occurrences are major difference with the rip-up-clasts in sandy turbidite deposits, and are indicative of that the liquefied mass, sand/pebble grains with high fluid pressure, behaved like Newtonian fluid. Based on the lateral tracing of a key tephra bed, we identified an evidence of lateral age variation of the MTDs, i.e. younging to the west in the slope-basin deposits. The MTDs may be a result of lateral migration of intermittent submarine slope failures.
A similar systematic pattern can also be identified in sandbox experiments, that slope failures occurred more or less continuously at the same or adjacent locations and sequence of slope failures migrated to the lateral-ward. The recognition of this failure pattern adds to our understanding of the mechanisms of submarine slope failures and will assist in the prediction of hazardous failures, particularly regarding the occurrence of series of intermittent failures on submarine slopes.

[MAT Seminar]

Date:
2018/1/9(Tuesday)13:00-15:00
Place:
MAT theater on the 5th floor, IT Building, Yokohama Institute
Language:
English
Speaker:
Hide Sakaguchi (Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology (MAT))
Title:
My will for MAT
Abstract:
The department of Mathematical science and Advanced Technology, MAT was established and started in April 2014 under expectation to introduce new trends to JAMSTEC. Since then, MAT members have made great efforts in various research and development topics. Among many results, the work done by Takashi Toyofuku, Miki Y. Matsuo and others (Nature Communications 8, 2017) was one of the most fantastic collaborative output in terms of marriage between mathematical science and biology oriented JAMSTEC research. However, some members of MAT are still struggling only in their own research topics and not able to introduce mathematical sense nor advanced technology for JAMSTEC. In this seminar, I am going to leave my will for MAT and to remind you the function of MAT in JAMSTEC for your future.