Brian Spencer

 
                  Brian Spencer 
                      
                      Professor  

                    Department
                        of Mathematics 

                    Mathematics
                      Building, Room 319  

                    University at
                        Buffalo 

                    Buffalo, NY
                      14260-2900   
 
email: spencerb buffalo.edu 

                      web:
                        www.buffalo.edu/~spencerb 

                      tel: (716)
                        645-8805 

 office hours

Spring 2026 Teaching:

    MTH 452/563 Mathematics and Climate

    MTH 540 Methods of Applied Mathematics II
  	 
Fall 2026 Teaching:

         MTH 443/543  Fundamentals of Applied Mathematics I

  Research:
                  applied mathematics of materials science phenomena

                Professor Spencer's research interests are
                    in the applied mathematics of materials. The
                    research combines physics-based mathematical models
                    with asymptotic, analytic and numerical methods to
                    describe growth processes, instabilities and
                    microstructure formation in materials. 
                    Specific research programs include:  
                  shape
                          transitions in faceted quantum dots

liquid drop
                        shapes during VLS nanowire growth

corner
                        regularizations in crystal growth models

                  scientific areas
                      of interest: crystal growth, elasticity, phase
                    transformations, chemical thermodynamics, fluid
                    mechanics, strained solid films, solidification,
                    diffusion, contact angles, dendrites, surface energy
                    effects, anisotropy, faceting.

                    mathematical areas of
                      interest: free boundary and moving boundary
                    problems, continuum mechanics, morphological
                    instability, pattern formation, differential
                    equations, integral equations, perturbation methods,
                    singular perturbations, numerical methods, spectral
                    methods, finite difference methods, numerical
                    stability, bifurcation and stability, energy
                    minimization, variational calculus.

  Publications