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Speaker: Amandine Aftalion, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en sciences sociales, Paris, France
Title: Modelling of racing
Abstract: In order to determine the optimal strategy to run a race according to the distance to run, we introduce a model based on a system of differential equations for the velocity, the propulsive force and the anaerobic energy. The system does not rely on statistics but couples mechanics, energetics (both aerobic and anaerobic), neural drive to an economic decision theory of cost and benefit. For a fixed distance to run (from 100m to 10 000m), we find how effort is minimized to produce the best running strategy. This takes into account the effect of the bend, of the lane and the psychological interaction with a neighbour on the next lane. We even suggest how present tracks could be modified to improve record times and decrease discrepancy between lanes.
Biography: Amandine Aftalion is a CNRS senior scientist at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en sciences sociales, Paris, France. She graduated from Ecole normale supérieure in Paris in 1996 and got her PhD from University Paris 6 in 1997. She is a specialist of models coming from low temperature physics, and more precisely singularities in Bose Einstein condensates, superfluids and superconductors. She has written a book on vortices in Bose Einstein condensates. More recently, she has used energy minimization to study an optimal control problem coming from human energy: optimize running.