photo Dionisios Margetis

Assistant Professor

Department of Mathematics &
Institute for Physical Science and Technology &
Maryland NanoCenter
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742, USA

Office: 4416 Mathematics Bldg. (Bldg. No: 084)
Phone : (++1-)301-405-5455
FAX : (++1-)301-314-0827
E- address : d i o   at   m a t h   d0t   umd    d0t   e d u

Research interests

 Applied Analysis & PDE; Statistical Mechanics; Aspects of Materials Science;
Modeling; Mathematical Physics.

My research is motivated by physical experiments and primarily explores the connection of
continuum laws (e.g. PDEs) to discrete or microscopic models in classical and quantum mechanics.
Of particular interest are microscale effects that persist even at large scales.

Topics of my current, active interest include (with links to my papers):

  • Aspects of epitaxial growth and relaxation:
    Morphological evolution of crystal surfaces below the roughening temperature;
    free-boundary problems with microscale effects

  • Bose-Einstein condensation of atomic gases:
    Nonlocal macroscopic laws beyond the nonlinear Schrödinger (Gross-Pitaevskii) equation;
    effects of atomic pair excitations

  • Decoherence in quantum computing via scattering theory

  • Aspects of mathematical biology (in progress):
    Interplay of geometry and chemical signaling in dynamics of biomembranes;
    homogenization of microscopic models for lipid bilayers

  • Electromagnetic wave theory and applications

  • Growth phenomena via a prototypical advection-diffusion problem;
    analysis of a class of first-kind Fredholm integral equations.

  • Atomistic study of behavior of materials under extreme pressure

    Students

    Graduate students:
  • University of Maryland, College Park, Mathematics:

    -- John Quah, Appl. Math. & Scientific Computation (AMSC) program:
    PhD expected in 06/2009:
    Mathematical modeling of 2-D crystal surface evolution.
    -- Amy Finkbiner, AMSC program:
    PhD earned in 12/2007; thesis in PDF:
    Analysis of discrete models for step instabilities (bunching).
    Co-supervised (for work on networks) by Prof. J. Yorke (Mathematics, Physics, IPST).

  • M.I.T., Department of Mathematics:
    -- Pak-Wing Fok, Applied Mathematics:
    PhD earned in 06/2006; thesis in PDF.
    Currently, a von Karman instructor in Comp. & Appl. Math., CalTech.
    Co-supervised in Ph.D. work by Prof. R. R. Rosales.

    Other students, co-advised informally at M.I.T.:
    -- Nikos Savva (PhD earned in 09/2007 - now postdoc in Imperial College, London)
    -- Jaehyuk Choi (PhD earned in 06/2005 - currently with Goldman Sachs, New York City)

    Undergraduate students:
  • University of Maryland, College Park,
    Mathematics and Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (MRSEC) :
    -- Jerrod Young, Norfolk State University (major: Optical Engineering).
    Project: Modeling and numerics for crystal surfaces under stress.
    Summer 2008, Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, Maryland MRSEC .

    Synergistic activities in the University of Maryland, College Park