Bio-sketch: 

I obtained BS (2009) and PhD (2014) degrees in mathematics from the University of Central Florida (UCF), where I held a Trustees Doctoral Fellowship (2009-2011) and then a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2011-2014). After completion of my PhD, I moved to the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford, UK, and took up the post of Research Fellow in Nonlinear Dynamics (2014-2015), followed by a Glasstone Research Fellowship in Science (2015-2018). In 2019, I joined the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Otago, New Zealand as a Senior Lecturer, where I was later "confirmed" (the closest approximation to "tenured" in Otago/NZ parlance) in 2023 and promoted to Associate Professor in 2024. (To see what these ranks signify outside of the four-tiered New Zealand system, click here).

I enjoy traveling and carrying out my work in myriad locales, preferring longer research visits to brief, hectic conferences. I spent the first half of 2023 on leave while a Visiting Scholar at Merton College and the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, and a CNRS-funded guest scientist in the Institut de Physique de Nice, France.

Contact Details: 

Mailing address:
Robert A. Van Gorder,
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Otago
P.O. Box 56
Dunedin 9054 New Zealand

email:
robert dot vangorder at otago dot ac dot nz

Employment:

• Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Otago, New Zealand (2024 -)

• Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Otago, New Zealand (2019 - 2023)

• Violette and Samuel Glasstone Research Fellow in Science, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, United Kingdom (2015 - 2018)

• Research Fellow in Nonlinear Dynamics, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, United Kingdom (2014 - 2015)

Education:

• PhD Mathematics (2014); University of Central Florida (UCF), Orlando, Florida, United States

  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (2011-2014)

  • UCF Trustees Doctoral Fellowship (2009-2011)

• B.S. Mathematics (2009); University of Central Florida (UCF), Orlando, Florida, United States

  • Minor areas of concentration: Economics, Physics, Statistics

Research Interests and Selected Publications:

In my research I seek to better understand how physical phenomena can be described, predicted, and even modified using tools from applied mathematics. I specialize in the trifecta of mathematical modelling (writing down relations between physical quantities within the language of mathematics... this is where all of those equations come from!), analytical and asymptotic solution methods (deriving an exact or approximate solution to a mathematical problem using pen-and-paper approaches), and numerical simulations (using a computer program to solve a mathematical problem). I apply these methods to study physical phenomena primarily falling into one of the following areas:

I. Fluids
If you’re alive, you’re interacting with fluids: The air that you breathe and the water that you drink are examples of fluids. Despite the ubiquitous nature of fluids, there are still many questions we have about their behavior. My interests in fluid mechanics include better understanding the dynamics governing fundamental structures –such as vortices, bubbles, waves, and boundary layers – that can then be used as the building blocks for more complex fluid flows. What forms can these structures take? Do they persist, or break apart over time? What happens if we attempt to manipulate or control these structures? These are the kinds of questions I am interested in.

II. Patterns
Diffusive instabilities – such as the Turing and Benjamin-Feir instabilities – have been proposed as mechanisms for the formation of patterns in many real-world systems, ranging from spot formation on the coats of big cats to optical turbulence in lasers. I am interested in understanding how these instability mechanisms extended to more generic non-autonomous or spatially heterogeneous systems, where they result in messier yet perhaps more realistic patterning. These heterogeneous systems arise from models of reaction-diffusion processes such as chemical reactions in the presence of thermal forcing, fluid flows, or evolving space domains, and are found in applications ranging from physics and chemistry to biology and epidemiology. Under what conditions can spatial or spatiotemporal patterns emerge from such systems? 

III. Waves
My interests in theoretical physics include quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, with a particular focus on modelling problems in low-temperature physics and condensed matter physics as quantum fluids. Some of my work in this area has involved understanding the dynamics Bose-Einstein condensates, quantized vortex filaments in superfluid helium, and confined quantum systems. While these topics are farther removed from our daily experiences, they exhibit exotic and interesting behaviors, providing a number of interesting scientific challenges. The study of waves is pertinent to these and other applications, and I am interested in understanding how nonlinear waves evolve under various conditions relevant to realistic experimental configurations, such as confined space domains or imposed heterogeneity.  

My papers appear on Google Scholar fairly quickly after they are published, and you can find a full publication list sorted in reverse chronological order here:

• Google Scholar

Feel free to get in touch if you'd like a copy of a published paper emailed to you. 

Selected publications from the past decade include:
R. Erban and R. A. Van Gorder, Langevin dynamics for a heavy particle immersed within a flow of light particles, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 480 (2024) 20230851
R. A. Van Gorder, Complex Ginzburg–Landau equation for time‐varying anisotropic media, Studies in Applied Mathematics 153 (2024) e12730
Y. Önder and R. A. Van Gorder, Modification of Turing patterns through the use of time-varying anisotropic diffusion, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 479 (2023) 20230487
R. A. Van Gorder, Quantum mechanics on time-varying space domains, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 479 (2023) 20220759
R. A. Van Gorder and P. A. Fisher, Spatial eigenvalue problems for stars in hydrostatic equilibrium: Generalized Lane–Emden equations as boundary value problems, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 523 (2023) 2059-2073
R. A. Van Gorder, Compressed hydrogen atoms confined within generic boxes, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 478 (2022) 20220467
R. A. Van Gorder, Finite time blowup of incompressible flows surrounding compressible bubbles evolving under soft equations of state, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 478 (2022) 20220172
R. A. Van Gorder, Adiabatic soliton management: Controlling solitary wave motion while keeping the wave envelope unchanged, Physics Letters A 446 (2022) 128284
E. K. Luckins, J. M. Oliver, C. P. Please, B. M. Sloman, R, A. Van Gorder, Modelling and analysis of an endothermic reacting counter-current flow, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 949 (2022) A21
R. A. Van Gorder, Pattern formation from spatially heterogeneous reaction-diffusion systems, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 379 (2021) 20210001
R. A. Van Gorder, Time-varying Bose-Einstein condensates, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 477 (2021) 20210443
R. A. Van Gorder, A theory of pattern formation for reaction-diffusion systems on temporal networks, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 477 (2021) 20200753
R. A. Van Gorder, V. Klika, and A. L. Krause, Turing conditions for pattern forming systems on evolving manifolds, Journal of Mathematical Biology 82 (2021) 4
R. A. Van Gorder, Perturbation theory for Bose-Einstein condensates on bounded space domains, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 476 (2020) 20200674
R. A. Van Gorder, Influence of temperature on Turing pattern formation, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 476 (2020) 20200356
R. A. Van Gorder, Turing and Benjamin-Feir instability mechanisms in non-autonomous systems, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 476 (2020) 20200003
B. M. Sloman, C. P. Please, and R. A. Van Gorder, Melting and dripping of a heated material with temperature-dependent viscosity in a thin vertical tube, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 905 (2020) A16
R. A. Van Gorder, H. Kim, and A. L. Krause, Diffusive instabilities and spatial patterning from the coupling of reaction-diffusion processes with Stokes flow in complex domains, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 877 (2019) 759-823
F. Brosa Planella, C. P. Please, and R. A. Van Gorder, Extended Stefan problem for solidification of binary alloys in a finite planar domain, SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics 79 (2019) 876-913
K. B. Kiradjiev, S. A. Halvorsen, R. A. Van Gorder, and S. D. Howison, Maxwell-type models for the effective thermal conductivity of a porous material with radiative transfer in the voids, International Journal of Thermal Sciences 145 (2019) 106009
A. L. Krause, M. A. Ellis, R. A. Van Gorder, Influence of curvature, growth, and anisotropy on the evolution of Turing patterns on growing manifolds, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 81 (2019) 759-799
J. A. Kwiecinski and R. A. Van Gorder, Dynamics of nearly parallel interacting vortex filaments, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 835 (2018) 575-623
L. W. S. Baines and R. A. Van Gorder, Soliton wave-speed management: slowing, stopping, or reversing a solitary wave, Physical Review A 97 (2018) 063814
A. L. Krause, L. Kurowski, K. Yawar, and R. A. Van Gorder, Stochastic epidemic metapopulation models on networks: SIS dynamics and control strategies, Journal of Theoretical Biology 449 (2018) 35-52
X. F. Meng, R. A. Van Gorder, and M. A. Porter, Opinion formation and distribution in a bounded-confidence model on various networks, Physical Review E 97 (2018) 022312
R. A. Van Gorder, Breathers and nonlinear waves on open vortex filaments in the nonrelativistic Abelian Higgs model, Physical Review D 95 (2017) 096007
N. T. Fadai, J. Melrose, C. P. Please, A. Schulman, R. A. Van Gorder, A heat and mass transfer study of coffee bean roasting, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 104 (2017) 787-799
R. A. Van Gorder, Dynamics of the Rayleigh-Plesset equation modelling a gas-filled bubble immersed in an incompressible fluid, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 807 (2016) 478-508
D. Levy, H. A. Harrington, R. A. Van Gorder, Role of seasonality on predator–prey–subsidy population dynamics, Journal of Theoretical Biology 396 (2016) 163-181
R. A. Van Gorder, Self-similar vortex filament motion under the non-local Biot–Savart model, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 802 (2016) 760-774
J. P. Taylor-King, R. Klages, S. Fedotov, R. A. Van Gorder, Fractional diffusion equation for an n-dimensional correlated Lévy walk, Physical Review E 94 (2016) 012104
R. A. Van Gorder, Helical vortex filament motion under the non-local Biot–Savart model, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 762 (2015) 141-155
R. A. Van Gorder, The Biot-Savart description of Kelvin waves on a quantum vortex filament in the presence of mutual friction and a driving fluid, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 471 (2015) 20150149

Research student supervision:

I've supervised the following doctoral students, four of whom continued with tenured or tenure-track positions in academia:

• Shabina Khalid, Mathematical modelling of antibubbles, 2023 - present, PhD, Otago.

• Ellen K. Luckins, Mathematical modelling of electrical, thermal, and chemical processes occurring within a silicon furnace, 2018 - 2021, DPhil, Oxford InFoMM CDT; co-supervised with J. M. Oliver, C. P. Please; industry sponsor: Elkem. (Placement: Post-Doc at Oxford, then Zeeman Lecturer at Warwick)

• Raquel González Fariña, Microsilica Particle Formation and Growth, 2017 - 2020, DPhil, Oxford InFoMM CDT; co-supervised with A. Muench, J. M. Oliver; industry sponsor: Elkem. (Placement: Post-Doc at Cardiff, then industry in Australia)

• Jane Lee, Modelling and Computation for Petroleum Systems in Basins with Complex Structural Geometries, 2015-2019, DPhil, Oxford InFoMM CDT; co-supervised with K. Gillow, J. Whiteley; industry sponsor: Petrotechnical Data Systems

• Ferran Brosa Planella, Modelling Solidification of Binary Alloys, 2015 - 2018, DPhil, Oxford InFoMM CDT; co-supervised with C. P. Please; industry sponsor: Elkem. (Placement: Post-Doc at Warwick, then Assistant Professor at Warwick)

• Nabil T. Fadai, Multiphase Modelling of Coffee Bean Roasting, Oxford, 2015 - 2018, DPhil, Oxford InFoMM CDT; co-supervised with C. P. Please; industry sponsor: Jacobs Douwe Egberts. (Placement: Post-Doc at QUT, then Assistant Professor at Nottingham) 

• Benjamin M. Sloman, Mathematical Modelling of Silicon Furnaces, 2015 - 2018, DPhil, Oxford InFoMM CDT; co-supervised with C. P. Please; industry sponsor: Elkem.  (Placement: Research Scientist at Elkem ASA)

• Andrew L. Krause, Network Modelling of Bioactive Porous Media, 2015 - 2017, DPhil, Oxford; co-supervised with S. L. Waters and D. Beliaev. (Placement: Post-Doc at Oxford, then Departmental Lecturer at Oxford, then Assistant Professor at Durham)

I've also supervised a number of MSc, BSc, and other short-term research projects.

Teaching

• University of Otago 

  • Current Year Lectures:
    MATH140 Fundamentals of Modern Mathematics 2 (full course, S2 2025)
    MATH302 Complex Analysis (S2 2025)
    MATH424 Techniques in Applied Mathematics 1 (S2 2025)
    MATH426 Techniques in Applied Mathematics 2 (S2 2025)

  • Previous Lectures:
    MATH140 Fundamentals of Modern Mathematics 2 (Calculus half  in S2 2022, full course in S2 2023 and 2024), MATH170 Mathematics 2 - Calculus half (S1 2019, S1 & S2 2020, S1 & S2 2021), MATH302 Complex Analysis (S2 2022, 2023, and 2024), MATH4AA Asymptotic Analysis (S2 2019, S2 2020), MATH4A1/MATH424 Techniques in Applied Mathematics 1 (S1 2021, S2 2022, S2 2023, S2 2024),  MATH4A2/MATH426 Techniques in Applied Mathematics 2 (S2 2021, S2 2022, S2 2023, S2 2024)

• University of Oxford 

  • Intercollegiate Classes (Mathematical Institute): Applied Complex Variables (2015,2017), Perturbation Methods (2014), Viscous Flow (2015), Applied Partial Differential Equations (2015), Techniques of Applied Mathematics (2014), Modelling Case Study (2016, 2017, 2018)

  • College Tutorials (including Christ Church College, Oriel College, New College): Geometry (2015,2016), Dynamics (2016), Fluids and Waves (2016), Fourier Series and PDEs (2015), Integration (Measure Theory) (2016), Numerical Analysis (2015, 2016), Probability II (2015), Quantum Theory (2015, 2016), Special Relativity (2015), Statistics and Data Analysis (2016), Topology (2016)

• University of Central Florida 

  • Lectures: Calculus 1 (2010), Calculus 2 (2011), Calculus 3 (2010, 2013)

Miscellaneous:

• Mathematics Genealogy

• Erdős Number = 3