10.03.2009 (Tuesday)

Three recent results on asymptotics of oscillations

Regular Seminar Sir Michael Berry (Physics Department, University of Bristol)

at:
15:00 City U.
room C343
abstract:

The results are separate, and apparently paradoxical, and have implications for physics. First, when two exponentials compete, their interference can be dominated by the contribution with smaller exponent. Second, repeated differentiation of almost all functions in a wide class generates trigonometric oscillations ('almost all functions tend to cosx'). Third, it is possible to find band-limited functions that oscillate arbitrarily faster than their fastest Fourier component ('superoscillations').