Fluid Mechanics

From the perspective of an applied mathematician, fluid mechanics encompasses a wealth of interesting problems. Fluid motion is governed by the Navier-Stokes equations; the apparent simplicity of these differential equations belies the range of fascinating phenomena that emerge in the motion of liquids and gases. Understanding problems in such disparate application areas as groundwater hydrology, combustion mechanics, ocean mixing, animal swimming or flight, or surface tension driven motion, hinges on a deeper exploration of fluid mechanics. Attempts to understand fluid motion from a theoretical perspective lead to mathematical questions involving numerical analysis, dynamical systems, stochastic processes and computational methods. This is classically rich territory for the applied mathematician and CAM offers opportunities to work in many areas of fluids with researchers whose interests range throughout the engineering disciplines.