04/06/2026
Date: Tuesday, June 9 , 2026
Time: 14.00-15.00 (Istanbul) = 13.00-14.00 (Ghent) = 16.00-17.00 (Almaty)
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6678270445?pwd=SFNmQUIvT0tRaHlDaVYrN3l5bzJVQT09, Conference ID: 667 827 0445, Access code: 1
Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Alexander Plakhov
Center for R&D in Maths and Appl., University of Aveiro, Portugal
Title: Extremal problems in billiards
Abstract: We consider the billiard in the exterior of a body — a compact set in Rn (n≥ 2) with piecewise smooth boundary. Within this model, we consider Newton-like problems of minimal aerodynamic resistance in a particular direction and minimal resistance averaged over all directions. It turns out [1] that there are bodies with zero resistance, and also (using an optical analogy) bodies invisible in one direction.
It is known [3, 2] that bodies with zero resistance in all directions, and hence, perfectly (in all directions) invisible bodies do not exist. We consider the problem of least average resistance for a body of fixed volume contained in a unit sphere. This problem has not been completely solved. A lower bound for the average resistance, which is a function of body volume, is found [4]. This result is obtained using methods of the vector-valued problem of optimal mass transport.
Biography:
Alexander Plakhov is Associate Professor at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He got his Ph.D. in 1986 and Dr. Sci. in 2011 at the Moscow State University and his habilitation at the University of Aveiro. He is the coordinator of the research group Optimization, Graph Theory and Combinatorics at CIDMA (Center for Research & Development in Mathematics and Applications) at the University of Aveiro. The research interests of Alexander Plakhov focus on dynamical systems and optimization. Many of his important results are at the intersection of Newton’s problem of minimal resistance with theories of billiards, optimal mass transport, Kakeya problem, and classical geometry. This research has found interesting applications in geometric optics; the discovery of various kinds of invisible bodies and retroreflectors should be mentioned. In mechanics, the Magnus effect for spinning bodies in highly rarefied media has been studied.
References
[1] A. Aleksenko and A. Plakhov. Nonlinearity 22, 1247-1258 (2009).
[2] A. Plakhov. Exterior billiards. Systems with impacts outside bounded domains. Springer, New York, 2012. xiv+284 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4614-4480-0
[3] A. Plakhov and V. Roshchina. Invisibility in billiards. Nonlinearity 24, 847-854 (2011).
[4] A. Plakhov and V. Roshchina. The problem of optimal camouflaging. SIAM J. Math. A**l. 57, 95-117 (2025).