Welcome to David Wagner's Homepage.

I am an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Houston. My e-mail address is "DWagner at uh dot edu", or, "wagner at math dot uh dot edu".

My research interests:

Theory of systems of nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws.
Applications of the above to combustion theory, in particular, detonation waves.

Most steady plane detonation waves are unstable. For certain parameter values, the instability is one that causes the steady detonation wave to oscillate. This is a plot of a numerical calculation of a pulsating detonation wave. The calculation was performed using the Sanders-Weiser staggered grid scheme for hyperbolic systems in one space dimension. Depicted are:

The spatial plot of the gas momentum, after 6032 time steps.
The time history of the shock pressure.

View a plot of a Pulsating Detonation

Click here for a list of papers you can download in .ps form.

Teaching Schedule and Class Announcements

Math Department Home Page

Personal links:

I enjoy bicycle riding, and last spring, I rode in the BP MS-150 for the fifth time. This is a two-day bicycle ride from Houston to Austin, to raise funds for research on Multiple Sclerosis. Please help eradicate the devastating effects of this disease by making a donation to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, as my sponsor in this event. Click here to make a donation! Thank you!

I also like to ride with the Houston Bicycle Club.

I am an active member of Christ the Lord Lutheran Church, which is part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. At the moment I serve as President and as a member of the Board of Elders of this congregation.

Dr. Milne Ongley is my favorite Doctor of Orthopedic Medicine. Under his care my lower back, hips, shoulders, neck, feet and neck are all working much better. I highly recommend him to anyone with serious joint problems, especially anyone with chronic back pain.