The principal investigator will study a number of mathematical questions relating to nonlinear partial differential equations of evolution type, including some free boundary problems arising as models for phase transition, and the dynamics of defect solutions of the Landau-Stuart equation. Generalizations of the Cahn-Hilliard equation and associated free-boundary value problems will be studied to help understand the phenomena of nucleation, growth, and coarsening. The qualitative analysis of such free boundary value problems will explain the phase separation which occurs in some spatially homogeneous binary alloys. Such studies are of significant scientific interest in view of the wide spread occurrence in real world situations.
