Mathematical models for the active cochlea

The cochlea is the main organ of the inner ear. It is responsible for converting the incoming mechanical sound signals from the middle ear into neural signals in the auditory nerve. This transformation involves a fascinating sequence of mechanical and hydrodynamical components, responsible for the spectral decomposition of the signal, its amplification by several orders of magnitude, and more.

I will describe ongoing work on mathematical models for different components of the cochlea, including dimension reduction, nonlinear elastic response leading to Hopf bifurcation and more.

The talk is self-contained. No prior knowledge of the cochlea and its function is assumed.