Professor Paul Barbone

Paul Barbone uses tools from computational and applied mathematics to better understand the world around us, mostly through mechanics.

His research tends to focus on acoustic and elastic wave phenomena in fluids and solids. He has studied and made contributions in the areas of fluid-structure interaction, modeling infinitely complicated structures, design of optimal computational methods, waves in media with microstructure, constitutive models of multiphase materials, ultrasound imaging, and elastic waves in biological media. More recent work has focused on the mathematical structure and computational solution of inverse problems in elasticity, especially those that arise in elastography. Currently he is studying uncertainty quantification in inverse problems, particularly elastic inverse problems arising in medical imaging and monitoring CO2 sequestration.

Paul is accompanied by his spouse, Dr. Debora A. Compton, who has a PhD from Stanford University, the focus of which is turbulent fluid flow. She left academics and engineering about 25 years ago. Debora is now retired, and enjoys singing sacred choral music, walking, and working in fiber arts.