Multiphase Instabilities and Extreme Events

How fast can ice sheets disintegrate? Why do volcanoes erupt? Which processes govern theoccurrence of landslides? And can we reduce the destructive reach of tsunamis and storm surges?The common denominator of what at first glance might seem like disparate systems ismultiphase flow. The dynamic interactions between multiple solid and fluid phases, such as iceand melt-water; lava and gas; vegetation and waves, give rise to drastic nonlinearities that governabrupt change. This class explores the role of multiphase instabilities in the onset and evolutionof extreme events. We will explore the different types of instabilities that arise in differentmultiphase aggregates and why they might be critical for understanding the nonlinear behaviorof natural systems.