In the singularly perturbed limit corresponding to a large diffusivity ratio between two components in a reaction-diffusion (RD) system, quasi-equilibrium spot patterns are often admitted, producing a solution that concentrates at a discrete set of points in the domain. In this paper, we derive and study the differential algebraic equation (DAE) that characterizes the slow dynamics for such spot patterns for the Brusselator RD model on the surface of a sphere. Asymptotic and numerical solutions are presented for the system governing the spot strengths, and we describe the complex bifurcation structure and demonstrate the occurrence of imperfection sensitivity due to higher order effects. Localized spot patterns can undergo a fast time instability and we derive the conditions for this phenomena, which depend on the spatial configuration of the spots and the parameters in the system. In the absence of these instabilities, our numerical solutions of the DAE system for N = 2 to N = 8 spots suggest a large basin of attraction to a small set of possible steady-state configurations. We discuss the connections between our results and the study of point vortices on the sphere, as well as the problem of determining a set of elliptic Fekete points, which correspond to globally minimizing the discrete logarithmic energy for N points on the sphere.

The year 2020 has seen the emergence of a global pandemic as a result of the disease COVID-19. This report reviews knowledge of the transmission of COVID-19 indoors, examines the evidence for mitigating measures, and considers the implications for wintertime with a focus on ventilation.

We present a mathematical model and corresponding series of microfluidic experiments examining the flow of a viscous fluid past an elastic fibre in a three-dimensional channel. The fibre’s axis lies perpendicular to the direction of flow and its base is clamped to one wall of the channel; the sidewalls of the channel are close to the fibre, confining the flow. Experiments show that there is a linear relationship between deflection and flow rate for highly confined fibres at low flow rates, which inspires an asymptotic treatment of the problem in this regime. The three-dimensional problem is reduced to a two-dimensional model, consisting of Hele-Shaw flow past a barrier, with boundary conditions at the barrier that allow for the effects of flexibility and three-dimensional leakage. The analysis yields insight into the competing effects of flexion and leakage, and an analytical solution is derived for the leading-order pressure field corresponding to a slit that partially blocks a two-dimensional channel. The predictions of our model show favourable agreement with experimental results, allowing measurement of the fibre’s elasticity and the flow rate in the channel.

Consider low-speed potential flow past a ship modelled as a semi-infinite twodimensional body with constant draught. Is it possible to design the hull in such a way as to eliminate the waves produced downstream of the ship? In 1977, Vanden-Broeck & Tuck had conjectured that a single-cornered piecewise-linear hull will always generate a wake; in this paper, we show how recently developed tools in exponential asymptotics can be used to confirm this conjecture. In particular, we show how the formation of waves near a ship is a necessary consequence of singularities in the ship's geometry (or its analytic continuation). Comprehensive numerical computations confirm the analytical predictions.