Events & CalendarsMathematics Colloquium: Ron Buckmire, Occidental College: "Different Differences: A Primer on NSFD Methods for Solving Differential Equations"

From calculus we know that a derivative of a function can be approximated using a difference quotient. There are different forms of the different quotient, such as the forward difference (most common), backward difference and centered difference (more accurate). In this talk I will discuss several different differences, specifically nonstandard finite differences (NFSD) that can be used to approximate the derivatives that appear in differential equations as a solution technique. Many NSFD schemes have been discovered and promoted by Ronald E. Mickens, an African American professor emeritus of physics at Clark Atlanta University who has written more than 300 research articles and a dozen books. I'll provide a number of examples of how NSFD schemes can be used to solve a wide variety of problems drawn from first-semester calculus to elementary ordinary differential equations to advanced computational fluid dynamics.

All students are welcome to attend. Only knowledge of elementary derivatives/anti-derivatives and Taylor approximations will be assumed.

RSVP to Professor Amanda Folsom afolsom@amherst.edu for dinner with the speaker on March 27 or 28 following the talks.