My research interests:

• Theory of systems of nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws.
• Applications of the above to combustion theory, in particular, detonation waves.

Most steady plane detonation waves are unstable. For certain parameter values, the instability is one that causes the steady detonation wave to oscillate. This is a plot of a numerical calculation of a pulsating detonation wave. The calculation was performed using the Sanders-Weiser staggered grid scheme for hyperbolic systems in one space dimension. Depicted are:

1. The spatial plot of the gas momentum, after 6032 time steps.
2. The time history of the shock pressure.

View a plot of a Pulsating Detonation

Teaching Schedule and Class Announcements

Personal links:

I enjoy bicycle riding, and for nine of the past thirteen years, I have ridden in the BP MS-150. This is a two-day bicycle ride from Houston to Austin, to raise funds for research on Multiple Sclerosis.

I also like to ride with the Houston Bicycle Club.

I am an active member of Christ the Lord Lutheran Church, which is part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

Dr. Milne Ongley is my favorite Doctor of Orthopedic Medicine.   Under his care my lower back, hips, shoulders, neck, feet and neck are all working much better.  I highly recommend him to anyone with serious joint problems, especially anyone with chronic back pain.

Watch out for Weapons of Math Instruction!