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RESEARCH STATEMENT
Marko Budiˇsi´c
1 Summary
Certain dynamical systems, e.g., geophysical fluid flows, can be so complicated thatit is difficult to provide concise mathematical models for their behavior. Never-theless, simulations and experiments provide us with data in which we can recog-nize simple patterns that resemble systems that are well studied and understood.My research aimed to extract regions of such simpler behaviors and analyze howmicro-structures fit together to form larger coherent structures, taking an approachalternative to classical geometric dynamical systems analysis.I start with the assumption that one can access only
averages of functions
alongtrajectories. Although this seems like a big constraint, the averages along tra- jectories are computationally more robust than trajectories themselves, which isimportant when numerical and measurement errors cannot be neglected, e.g., inchaotic regimes. Moreover, description through trajectory averages turns out to bea natural setting for comparison of behaviors of different trajectories.To each initial condition, we assign a set of measurements, formed by averaging acontinuous function basis along the trajectory emanating from the initial condition.The collection of such measurements for all initial conditions is termed
the ergodicquotient
. The generalized inverse problem that I have studied asks what we can sayabout geometric and spectral invariants of the dynamical system, knowing only theergodic quotient.For measure-preserving systems on compact manifolds, the ergodic quotient isthe set of weak representatives of ergodic measures for the system. Their supportsare ergodic sets, the smallest invariant sets in the state space. Therefore, throughthe ergodic quotient, one can access geometric- and operator-theoretic invariantsusing the analytic machinery of sequence spaces.Figure 1:
A primary vortex andtwo secondary vortices in theArnold-Beltrami-Childress flow,visualized using the ergodic quo-tient.
To study geometry, the sequence space is en-dowed with a weighted euclidean metric, correspond-ing to a negative-index Sobolev norm on the
H
−
s
space (
s >
0) of invariant measures. In this topology,we can formulate conditions on connectedness andcontinuity of the ergodic quotient which extend thenotion of Reeb-Fomenko graphs, used in Morse the-ory of continuous integrals of motion for integrablesystems.In applied settings, we work with a truncated setof functions to average. Even then, the intrinsic di-mension of the ergodic quotient is lower than the di-mension of the ambient space. Applying a manifold-learning technique, the Diffusion Maps, we extract a low-dimensional parametriza-tion of the ergodic quotient by the modes of diffusion along it. Such parametrizationcan be used to extract coherent structures, for visualization or further analysis. As
Research Statement
Marko Budiˇsi´c
December 2011diffusion modes are scale-ordered, we can visualize coarse features with relativelyfew modes used.As a proof-of-concept, I implemented the visualization of coherent structuresbased on the ergodic quotient in a computer code. Analyzing two systems, theChirikov standard map[1]and the Arnold-Beltrami-Childress flows ([2] and Figure
1), it was confirmed that the results conform to the known features of those flows.Additionally, we analyzed two fluid flows whose features were less known: in bothcases, the procedure proved useful, uncovering unknown invariant structures in thestate spaces [3].My future plans include continuing the topological analysis of the ergodic quo-tient[4], in particular connections to Fomenko graphs and to orbifolds of manifolds
under non-discrete groups. Furthermore, the weak-representations of invariant mea-sures are a practical setting for studying invariants of operators. As a possible routeof research, techniques of moment problems could be adapted to use in invariantmeasure reconstruction from the averaged functions[5]. My longer-term goals in-
volve relating the ergodic quotient to conventional bifurcation analysis and controlof dynamics.
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Research Statement
Marko Budiˇsi´c
December 2011
2 Background and Motivation
“What can dynamical systems contribute to understanding of climate change?”
Thisquestion was posed during the
Forward-looking Panel
at the last SIAM Conferenceon Applications of Dynamical Systems, held in May 2011 at Snowbird, UT. Whilethe audience and the panel showed enthusiasm for increasing our efforts in addressingburning issues in climate change, the plenary talk by Chris Jones was a cold shower:it demonstrated the complexity of models coming out of climatology, and how muchwork it is needed to catch only a glimpse of familiar objects, such as equilibria,vortices, and transport highways.However, our field is built around understanding the influence such simple ob- jects have on nearby behavior, even in complicated settings. During the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year, we were hoping the oil would avoid a heteroclinic thatwould shoot it towards the beaches of Louisiana or, even worse, further into theAtlantic Ocean[6]. In other applications we are looking to insert objects close to
unstable manifolds, as it is the case with Interplanetary Transport Highway [7],which provides low-energy routes for probes exploring the Solar System, or whenwe seek to send sensors into the open ocean from Monterey Bay[8].
Unfortunately, the real problems are only rarely understood well enough to writedown a system of differential equations for them. Even when they are, the equationsare rarely simple enough that we can immediately apply the tools of geometricdynamical systems to understand them. Nevertheless, this does not mean we haveto abandon mathematics and resort to guessing and seat-of-the-pants solutions.During the past decade, several new approaches emerged, aiming to identify regionsof coherent, simple behavior in such settings: the concepts of Lagrangian CoherentStructures[9], the Ulam’s method of approximation of the system [10]and study of
mesohyperbolicity[11] all garnered attention for their successes.
My research started with the same goal, the identification of coherent structuresfrom trajectories of the system, but my approach is distinct from mentioned ones.At its root is an observation that the level sets of all flow-invariant functions forminvariant sets for the dynamics. It might seem that invariant functions are not easyto find, however, the intuition is slightly deceiving: averaging any function alongtrajectories
constructs
an invariant function for the system. This idea was exploredby my advisor, Igor Mezi´c, in his doctoral work[12]. By partitioning the state
space into level sets of averaged functions we uncover the finest invariant sets forthe dynamics: the ergodic sets. Additionally, the trajectory averages form a robustfoundation for practical applications, as their computation can be robust even whentrajectories themselves are not, e.g., in chaotic regions of the state space[13].
When I started my research, two main questions were open in the search forergodic sets through trajectory averages. First, important for applications, was thequestion of a practical algorithm: Mezi´c’s algorithm relied on a computationally-infeasible partition products, requiring repeated intersections of infinitely many sets.Second, while the ergodic sets do act as a type of minimal coherent structures, itwas not clear how they coalesced into macroscopic objects that we might care about,e.g., transport highways and vortices.In my research, I explored the theoretical and the applied side of the stated prob-lems, making sure that the conclusions were theoretically supported, but not losing
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