School of Mathematics

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Lukas Eigentler

Contact details

Research Interests

I am a PhD student at the Maxwell Institute Graduate School in Analysis and its Applications (MIGSAA) and am based in the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at Heriot-Watt University. My research interests lie in mathematical biology and its application to ecology.

My current work concerns the analysis of mathematical models that describe the formation of vegetation patterns, a characteristic feature of semi-arid ecosystems and a prime example of a self-organisation principle in ecology. My research mainly focusses on pattern onset, pattern existence, and pattern stability in several extensions of an existing model capturing the dynamics of plants and water in dryland ecosystems. The aim of my work is to gain an insight into effects caused by several processes, such as nonlocal dispersal of seeds or intermittency of precipitation, on the spatial patterns. I am further developing an understanding of how plant species can coexist in both vegetation patterns and savannas, even though they compete for the same limiting resource.

Supervisor

Jonathan Sherratt, Ben Leimkuhler