Title: Human Acoustics: From the Vocal Chords to the Inner Ear

Abstract:

I will present a semi-discrete mathematical model for the vocal chords, which is
to say the vocal chords are modeled as a discrete mass-spring system while the
airflow is continuous. Some numerical issues and results will also be discussed.
Then we move on to a different topic, the inner ear. I will present a little of
the biology of the inner ear and discuss a two-dimensional nonlinear nonlocal
model of the cochlea. Applications include uses for hearing aids as well as
audio compression. Students of all levels are encouraged to attend.