Abstract:

Frustration has been increasing over our (in)ability to represent well the effects of the unresolvable sub-grid scales (SGS) in large eddy simulations (LES) of many phenomena involving the motion of large bodies of fluid, like the oceans and atmosphere. The NSF has started an initiative to bring mathematicians and geophysicists into closer contact, in the hope that the mathematicians, after getting to know the geophysical problems better, can introduce new ideas to help solve this all pervasive difficulty. One of the projects NSF has decided to support concerns LES of the Earth's core, the seat of the geomagnetic field that directs the magnetic compass needle. I will briefly describe this, and our plans for the future.