Speaker: Dr. Andrew Jones, Sandia National Laboratories and KSU alumni (2018)
Title: "Meshfree Methods for Complex Geometries in Computational Physics"
Abstract: Traditional numerical methods struggle with complex geometries and moving boundaries. This talk introduces meshfree approaches—particularly radial basis function finite difference (RBF-FD) and generalized moving least squares (GMLS)—that eliminate the need for mesh generation while maintaining high-order accuracy. Applications include solving PDEs on irregular surfaces and Particle-in-Cell plasma simulations for ion mobility spectrometry. Drawing on real-world examples from Sandia National Laboratories, such as SF₆ leak detection, the talk demonstrates how these flexible numerical frameworks enable simulations directly on complex point clouds, offering powerful alternatives to traditional finite element methods for challenging computational physics problems.

Light refreshments will be available prior to the talk.