Dr Yiping Ma

Assistant Professor

Department: Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering

I am an assistant professor in applied mathematics at Northumbria University.

My research interests include the theoretical areas of nonlinear waves, pattern formation, dynamical systems, and statistical physics, and the applied areas of metamaterials, nonlinear optics, climate dynamics, and fluid mechanics. I am part of the research group on mathematics of complex and nonlinear phenomena.

My teaching interests include differential equations, linear algebra, multivariate calculus, applied analysis, computational mathematics, and mathematical modeling.

Previously, I held postdoctoral positions at University of Colorado at Boulder, Northwestern University, and University of Chicago, and obtained my PhD in physics at University of California at Berkeley advised by Edgar Knobloch.

My personal website can be found here.

My Google Scholar profile can be found here.

Email Yiping

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

My research belongs to applied nonlinear mathematics and physical applied mathematics, with focuses on the following three areas. A central theme is the study of nonlinear differential equations via analytical and numerical means.

Nonlinear waves; Metamaterials; Nonlinear optics: I am interested in nonlinear waves in optical and mechanical metamaterials. My prior work focused on nonlinear edge waves in optical and mechanical topological insulators. I have also worked on dispersive shock waves in the KP and 2D BO equations, and self-similar solutions to the 2D hyperbolic NLS equation.

Climate dynamics; Statistical physics; Fluid mechanics: I am interested in meltwater patterns under-represented in climate models. My prior work focused on using statistical physics to explain the geometric characteristics of Arctic melt ponds. I have also worked on some fluid problems including Rayleigh-Bénard convection and Homann stagnation-point flow.

Pattern formation; Dynamical systems: I am interested in spatially localized states in driven dissipative systems. These solutions are often found using dynamical systems methods. My prior work focused on 1D and 2D localized Turing patterns in forced oscillatory systems. I have also worked on Turing-Hopf localized states in the 1D Brusselator model.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Topological edge solitons and their stability in a nonlinear Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, Ma, Y., Susanto, H. Nov 2021, In: Physical Review E
Edge Solitons in a Nonlinear Mechanical Topological Insulator, Snee, D., Ma, Y. 1 Jul 2019, In: Extreme Mechanics Letters
Ising model for melt ponds on Arctic sea ice, Ma, Y., Sudakov, I., Strong, C., Golden, K. 21 Jun 2019, In: New Journal of Physics
A universal asymptotic regime in the hyperbolic nonlinear Schrodinger equation, Ablowitz, M., Ma, Y., Rumanov, I. 17 Aug 2017, In: SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics
Conical wave propagation and diffraction in two-dimensional hexagonally packed granular lattices, Chong, C., Kevrekidis, P., Ablowitz, M., Ma, Y. 25 Jan 2016, In: Physical Review E
Dispersive shock waves in the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili and two dimensional Benjamin–Ono equations, Ablowitz, M., Demirci, A., Ma, Y. 15 Oct 2016, In: Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena
The competing effects of wall transpiration and stretching on Homann stagnation-point flow, Weidman, P., Ma, Y. 1 Nov 2016, In: European Journal of Mechanics - B/Fluids
Two-dimensional localized structures in harmonically forced oscillatory systems, Ma, Y., Knobloch, E. 15 Dec 2016, In: Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena
Adiabatic dynamics of edge waves in photonic graphene, Ablowitz, M., Curtis, C., Ma, Y. 13 Apr 2015, In: 2D Materials
Strong transmission and reflection of edge modes in bounded photonic graphene, Ablowitz, M., Ma, Y. 7 Oct 2015, In: Optics Letters

PGR Supervision

David Snee Nonlinear Edge Waves in Mechanical Topological Insulators Start Date: 01/10/2017 End Date: 29/06/2021

Qualifications

Physics PhD December 01 2011

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