Mathematical Biology Seminar
- Event Type
- Seminar/Symposium
- Sponsor
- Department of Mathematics
- Location
- English 108
- Date
- Nov 5, 2025 1:00 pm
- Speaker
- Xueying Wang (Northwestern University / NITMB)
- Contact
- Daniel Cooney
- dbcoone2@illinois.edu
- Phone
- 914-563-4916
- Views
- 38
- Originating Calendar
- Mathematical Biology Calendar
Speaker: Xueying Wang (Northwestern University / NITMB)
Title: In search of simple models for complex systems from turbulence to biology
Abstract: Biological and other out-of-equilibrium systems are genuinely complex, with many detailed interactions. Yet in some cases, simple models still predict the most important behaviors. I begin with a spatially extended ecological model for the transition to turbulence, where varying degrees of energy limitation, together with intrinsic stochasticity, generate spatial patterns and moving fronts as the control parameter changes. The success of this model raises a broader question: can we always describe living systems with simple models using only a few effective parameters? Using a standard multi-G model for organic carbon degradation, I show why the answer is task dependent. Many biological systems exhibit sloppiness, a nearly continuous Hessian spectrum reflecting broad, poorly identifiable parameter directions. Sloppiness does not guarantee a truly low-dimensional mechanism. Whether a reduction can be done depends on the specific behavior one seeks to describe.