Stability

(4 Credits)

What makes a system stable or unstable? How does a lack of stability translate into chaos or turbulence? Every new device, experiment, or idea, requires a check for system stability. Important in science, engineering, politics, economics, and daily life, understanding stability enables predictability and control. In the late nineteenth century, philosophers, physicists, and mechanical engineers laid the foundations of hydrodynamic stability, the field which analyzes the stability and onset of instability of fluid flows. How have these breakthroughs helped us to determine whether a given flow is stable or unstable, or to describe how possible instabilities can cause turbulence? And how might insights drawn from such fields offer insight into other areas of our lives, from monetary or political systems to bridges to interpersonal relationships?