Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Lachlan Smith, University of Sydney "Chaos in networks of coupled oscillators with multimodal natural frequency distributions"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Lachlan Smith, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Mathematics and Statistics. The University of Sydney
Title:
Chaos in networks of coupled oscillators with multimodal natural frequency distributions
Abstract:
Synchronization is ubiquitous to networks of coupled oscillators. We explore chaos in the Kuramoto model with multimodal distributions of the natural frequencies of oscillators and provide a comprehensive description under what conditions chaos occurs. For multimodal natural frequency distributions it is typical that there is a range of coupling strengths such that multiple synchronized clusters coexist, with one synchronized cluster per peak in the frequency distribution. We use collective coordinates to describe the inter- and intra-cluster dynamics, which reduces the Kuramoto model to a small number of effective degrees of freedom. We show that chaos of the phases of clusters can occur provided there are at least four peaks in the frequency distribution, and that chaos can occur via intermittent desynchronization of a cluster if there are three peaks. In addition, we use collective coordinates to show analytically that chaos cannot occur for bimodal frequency distributions, even if they are asymmetric and if intermittent desynchronization occurs.
Speaker Bio:
Lachlan Smith is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Sydney in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, working with Georg Gottwald. Lachlan is interested in the collective behaviour of dynamical entities in networks, such as the synchronization of coupled oscillators. He uses a collective coordinate approach to reduce the dimension of the model, which allows greater analytical insight. Before moving to Sydney, Lachlan was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University, working with Julio Ottino, Richard Lueptow and Paul Umbanhowar to study mixing and transport by cutting-and-shuffling, with applications to granular mixing. Lachlan received his PhD from Monash University in Mechanical Engineering.
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Data Science Nights - December 2025 - Speaker: Yash Chainani, Chemical Engineering
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
5:30 PM
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Room 2410, Kellogg Global Hub
Details
DECEMBER MEETING: Thursday, December 18, 2025 at 5:30pm (US Central)
LOCATION CHANGE THIS MONTH:
In person: Kellogg Global Hub, Room 2410
2211 N Campus Drive, Evanston
AGENDA:
5:30pm - Meet and greet with refreshments
6:00pm - Talk with Yash Chainani, Broadbelt & Tyo Labs, Chemical Engineering
Talk title and abstract TBA.
DATA SCIENCE NIGHTS are monthly meetings featuring presentations and discussions about data-driven science and complex systems, organized by Northwestern University graduate students and scholars. Students and researchers of all levels are welcome! For more information: http://bit.ly/nico-dsn
Time
Thursday, December 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location
Room 2410, Kellogg Global Hub Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Winter Recess Starts - University Closed Through January 1st, 2026
University Academic Calendar
All Day
Details
Winter Recess Starts - University Closed Through January 1st, 2026
Time
Wednesday, December 24, 2025
Contact
Calendar
University Academic Calendar
Winter classes begin
University Academic Calendar
All Day
Details
Winter classes begin
Time
Monday, January 5, 2026
Contact
Calendar
University Academic Calendar
WED@NICO Winter Seminar Series returns on January 28th!
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
The Wednesdsays@NICO speaker series will return for the winter quarter on January 28th, 2026, running through March 4th. Speakers will be announced in January!
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: Zoom links will be provided
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)