On July 31, 2024, Sir John Ball, Fellow of the Royal Society, Academician of the European Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Foreign Member of the French Academy of Sciences, and Foreign Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science, delivered a lecture at Jilin University’s Dingxin Lecture Series. Titled
"Analyzing Microstructures in Materials," his talk provided cutting-edge academic insights and inspiration to Jilin University faculty and students. Professor Zhang Guoxing, Vice President of Jilin University, attended the lecture and presented the "Dingxin Lecture Commemorative Plaque" to Professor John Ball.
During the lecture, Professor John Ball noted that nonlinear elasticity models have successfully established a mesoscopic theoretical framework to explain various solid phase transition phenomena—including martensitic phase transitions—and their associated microstructural changes, providing robust theoretical support for experimental observations. He also highlighted current challenges: the limited understanding of quasiconvexity restricts further applications of the model. Additionally, the model lacks full predictive power, as it requires a complete set of dynamic equations for support. A key question remains whether solutions can generate infinitely fine microstructures as time
t approaches infinity, directly impacting the accuracy of predictions.
