Mathematical Biology Seminar

Drew LaMar
Department of Mathematics, University of Texas
Monday Februay 7, 2005
3:05pm in LCB 121
"Human Acoustics: From the Vocal Chords to the Inner Ear"

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.