Zhennan Zhou 周珍楠
Associate Professor (Tenured)
Institute for Theoretical Sciences & Center for Interdisciplinary Studies
Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
"Applied Analysis, Scientific Computing, and Multiscale Modeling for Biological and Physical Dynamics"
About
I am an applied mathematician working at the interface of differential equations, stochastic analysis, and scientific computing. After receiving my Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (advisor: Shi Jin) and a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University (mentor: Jianfeng Lu), I joined the Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research at Peking University as a tenure-track assistant professor. In 2024 I moved to Westlake University as a tenured associate professor, where I also serve as Dean of Undergraduate Studies in mathematics.
My research centers on multiscale phenomena: how to build mathematically rigorous and computationally efficient bridges between microscopic laws and macroscopic behavior. This unifying perspective guides our work on collective cell behavior, large-scale neural networks, quantum nonadiabatic dynamics, and statistical sampling algorithms.
Research Interests
Collective Cell Dynamics
Multiscale modeling of tissue growth, tumor morphogenesis, free-boundary problems, and the emergence of necrotic cores.
Neurodynamics
Kinetic theory and Fokker–Planck descriptions of integrate-and-fire networks, pulse-coupled oscillators, and synchronization.
Quantum Dynamics
Semiclassical Schrödinger equations, nonadiabatic transitions, and surface-hopping algorithms for mixed quantum-classical dynamics.
Statistical Sampling
Path-integral molecular dynamics, random-batch methods, and thermal-equilibrium sampling for high-dimensional quantum systems.
Learning & Control
Optimal-control perspectives on prompt engineering, mean-field games, and interpretability of large-scale learning models.
Contact
Hangzhou, 310030, P.R. China
Westlake University