Abstract: The study of vibrating membranes is an aspect of mathematical physics that is primarily concerned with the geometries of the membrane corresponding to its frequencies. Membranes consisting of two materials of different densities are called composite membranes.
We are interested in determining the shape of membranes with minimal eigenvalues; in particular the first eigenvalue, or fundamental frequency, of such membranes.
Cynthia Shepherd received her B.S. in Mathematics from CSUN in 2006. She is currently a first year Graduate Student and FERMAT Fellow at CSUN, and the president of the Math Club. In July 2006, she participated in the I.R.E.S. Program at UNICAMP in Brazil. Her talk is about the work she did there.