Theme: CHAOS — The Story of Chaos
Speaker: Prof. Guanrong Chen, Academician of the European Academy of Sciences
Time: 10:00 AM, Thursday, April 17, 2025
Venue: Old Library on Yingding Hill, Wuhan University
Organizer: Wuhan University
Co-organizers:
Research and Development Institute of Science and Technology, Wuhan University
School of Artificial Intelligence, Wuhan University
Lecture Overview
The metaphor of a butterfly flapping its wings in South America potentially triggering a tornado in Texas has long been symbolic of "chaos." This analogy reflects humanity's journey from intuitive perceptions to the establishment of chaos theory as a scientific discipline, revealing the "Butterfly Effect" as a fundamental feature of chaotic systems. This lecture will introduce the core concepts of chaos and the historical development of chaos theory through engaging narratives. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, the talk requires no prior knowledge of chaos theory and welcomes all faculty and students, including those from non-science disciplines.
About the Speaker
Prof. Guanrong Chen is an Academician of the European Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World. He currently serves as Chair Professor and PhD Supervisor in the Department of Electronic Engineering at City University of Hong Kong. Prof. Guanrong Chen obtained his MSc in Computational Mathematics from Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou (1981) and his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Texas A&M University, USA (1987). He subsequently held faculty positions at Rice University and the University of Houston before being appointed as Chair Professor at City University of Hong Kong in 2000, where he has served continuously to date. He was elected as an IEEE Fellow in 1997 and an IEEE Life Fellow in 2019. He received the Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award of China in 2008, 2012, and 2016, the He-Liang-He-Li Science and Technology Progress Award in 2010, an honorary doctorate from Saint Petersburg State University (Russia, 2011) along with the Euler Gold Medal from the Russian, and an honorary doctorate from Université de Caen Normandie (France, 2014) while being elected as an Academician of the European Academy of Sciences. In 2015, he further became an Academician of the European Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World.
Prof. Chen established and developed a rigorous yet practical framework for chaos anti-control theory, including the Chen-Lai system (a discrete chaotic system) and algorithms for feedback chaos generation in infinite-dimensional systems. He discovered the dual system of the Lorenz system (termed the "Chen system") and established the theoretical framework for the generalized Lorenz system family. Collaborating with peers, he demonstrated the robustness-free networks against random attacks and their vulnerability to malicious attacks, pioneered the concept of pinning control for complex networks, and developed corresponding algorithms. Applying mathematical graph theory, he analyzed synchronization capabilities and regions in complex networks, achieving analytical results. He also proposed the LAN and multi-LAN models for internet architecture.
