Title: The problem of (stochastic) persistence in mathematical ecology and population dynamics
Speaker: Prof. Michel Benaim
Date and time: 2 January 2025 (Thursday), 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Venue: IEOR Seminar Room
Abstract: An important issue in ecology is to find out under which conditions a group of interacting species - plants, animals, viral particles – can coexist. The deterministic theory began in the late 1970s and developed rapidly with the help of the available tools from dynamical system theory. However, to take into account environmental fluctuations one need to consider stochastic models of interaction. The “stochastic” theory began to emerge with the work of Chesson, Ellner, and others in the 80s but, from a "math perspective", is still in its infancy. The purpose of this talk is to present some recent results on the subject. This is based on influential collaborations with Sebastian Schreiber (UC Davis) and Josef Hofbauer (Wien), and recent works with Claude Lobry (University of Nice), Edouard Strickler (CNRS ), Alex Hening (Texas A&M) and Dang Nguyen (University of Alabama).
Short Bio: Prof. Michel Benaim, Institut de mathématiques, Uni. of Neuchatel, Switzerland, is well known for his contributions to stochastic approximation algorithms, dynamic games, mathematical models in biology, Markov process theory, etc. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace in 1992 and after a visiting position at the Uni. of California, Berkeley, 1992-1994, has held positions in Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, École Polytechnique and Cergy-Pontoise University in France. He is a co-editor-in-chief of Stochastic Processes and Their Applications and Journal of Dynamics and Games.