New Faculty Member: Pierre-David Letourneau

Dr. Pierre-David Letourneau is the new Chu Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics.

He received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Stanford University in 2013, under the supervision of Prof. Eric Darve and Prof. George Papanicolaou. His work was mostly concerned with the study of waves in random media. In particular, he theoretically analyzed and subsequently developed an algorithm together with a piece of software capable of simulating the propagation of acoustic waves in highly heterogeneous media. Such media include, for example, those constituted by a large amount of air bubbles in water and are known to present substantial computational difficulties. His past research also involved the development of a scheme generalizing the application of fast algorithms (methods for the accelerating dense linear algebra operations) to a larger classes of problems, the construction of generalized Gaussian quadrature, imaging in highly heterogeneous media as well as seismic imaging.

His current focus lies with the study of inverse problems associated with waves in complex media. Some of his current projects involve hybrid imaging problems (where various physical phenomenon are present; with Prof. Guillaume Bal) and the calculation and understanding of the scattering signature from Q-dot structures (with Prof. I.C. Noyan). He is also in the process of developing an algorithm capable of simulating the propagation of linear elastic waves in highly heterogeneous media which he plans to use to study numerically and theoretically the problem of imaging of small bodies embedded in an elastic media (with Prof. Mourad Sini, AAS, Linz, Austria).