Prof Maria Bruna

Royal Society University Research Fellow

About Me

Prof Maria Bruna

I am a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. My research focuses on stochastic interacting particle systems and their applications to biological and industrial processes.

Until 2024, I was a University Lecturer at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge. In 2021, I held a Humboldt Research Fellowship at FAU Erlangen. Between 2013 and 2018, I was a Junior Research Fellow in Mathematics at St John's College, Oxford. In 2012, I completed a DPhil in Applied Mathematics at Oxford under the supervision of Jon Chapman. In 2008, I graduated with an MSc in Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing at the same university. In 2007, I obtained undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Industrial Engineering from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, where I am from.

Research

My research focuses on developing mathematical methods to study collective behaviour in interacting particle systems. The goal is to understand how large-scale patterns and behaviours emerge from the interactions of individual particles, which is crucial in many applications. For example, how do ants coordinate complex tasks such as building their nest and maintain social order in colonies with thousands of individuals? Capturing these dynamics in mathematical models is challenging, especially when particles strongly repel each other, such as in crowded environments.

In particular, I am interested in:

Publications

Journal Articles

  1. Bruna, M., Burger, M., & de Wit, O. (2024). Lane formation and aggregation spots in a model of ants. SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems, In Press.
  2. Mason, J., Erignoux, C., Jack, R.L., & Bruna, M. (2023). Exact hydrodynamics and onset of phase separation for an active exclusion process. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 479 (2279), 20230524.
  3. McDonald, R.A., Neuhausler, R., Robinson, M., Larsen, L.G., Harrington, H.A., & Bruna, M. (2023). Zigzag persistence for coral reef resilience using a stochastic spatial model. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 20 (205), 20230280.
  4. Bruna, M., Chapman, S.J., & Schmidtchen, M. (2023). Derivation of a macroscopic model for Brownian hard needles. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 479 (2274), 20230076.
  5. Alasio, L., Bruna, M., Fagioli, S., & Schulz, S. (2022). Existence and regularity for a system of porous medium equations with small cross-diffusion and nonlocal drifts. Nonlinear Analysis, 223, 113064.
  6. Bruna, M., Burger, M., Esposito, A., & Schulz, S. (2022). Well-posedness of an integro-differential model for active Brownian particles. SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis, 54 (5), 5662-5697.
  7. Bruna, M., Burger, M., Esposito, A., & Schulz, S. (2022). Phase separation in systems of interacting active Brownian particles. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 82 (4), 1635-1660.
  8. Bruna, M., Burger, M., Pietschmann, J.F., & Wolfram, M.T. (2021). Active crowds. Active Particles, Volume 3: Advances in Theory, Models, and Applications, 35-73.
  9. Bruna, M., Burger, M., & Carrillo, J.A. (2021). Coarse graining of a Fokker–Planck equation with excluded volume effects preserving the gradient flow structure. European Journal of Applied Mathematics, 32 (4), 711-745.
  10. Alasio, L., Bruna, M., & Carrillo, J.A. (2020). The role of a strong confining potential in a nonlinear Fokker–Planck equation. Nonlinear Analysis, 193, 111480.
  11. Ralph, T., Taylor, S.W., & Bruna, M. (2020). One-dimensional model for chemotaxis with hard-core interactions. Physical Review E, 101 (2), 022419.
  12. Printsypar, G., Bruna, M., & Griffiths, I.M. (2019). The influence of porous-medium microstructure on filtration. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 861, 484-516.
  13. Wilson, D.B., Byrne, H., & Bruna, M. (2018). Reactions, diffusion, and volume exclusion in a conserved system of interacting particles. Physical Review E, 98, 012130.
  14. Bruna, M., Burger, M., Ranetbauer, H., & Wolfram, M.T. (2017). Cross-diffusion systems with excluded-volume effects and asymptotic gradient flow structures. Journal of Nonlinear Science, 27, 687-719.
  15. Robinson, M., & Bruna, M. (2017). Particle-based and meshless methods with Aboria. SoftwareX, 6, 172-178.
  16. Bruna, M., Chapman, S.J., & Robinson, M. (2017). Diffusion in spatially varying porous media. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 77 (6), 2093-2119.
  17. Romanazzi, P., Bruna, M., & Howey, D.A. (2017). Thermal homogenization of electrical machine windings applying the multiple-scales method. Journal of Heat Transfer, 139 (1), 012101.
  18. Dalwadi, M.P., Bruna, M., & Griffiths, I.M. (2016). A multiscale method to calculate filter blockage. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 809, 264-289.
  19. Romanazzi, P., Gyselinck, J., Bruna, M., & Howey, D.A. (2016). Electromagnetic and thermal homogenisation of an electrical machine slot. In 2016 XXII International Conference on Electrical Machines (ICEM), 1643-1649.
  20. Bruna, M., Grigore, R., Kiefer, S., Ouaknine, J., & Worrell, J. (2016). Proving the Herman-Protocol Conjecture. In 43rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP).
  21. Dalwadi, M.P., Griffiths, I.M., & Bruna, M. (2015). Understanding how porosity gradients can make a better filter using homogenization theory. Proceedings of the Royal Society A.
  22. Bruna, M., Chapman, S.J., & Ramon, G.Z. (2015). The effective flux through a thin-film composite membrane. Europhysics Letters, 110 (4), 40005.
  23. Knapp, B., Bardenet, R., Bernabeu, M.O., Bruna, M., Calderhead, B., et al. (2015). Ten simple rules for a successful cross-disciplinary collaboration. PLoS Computational Biology, 11 (4), e1004214.
  24. Bruna, M., & Chapman, S.J. (2015). Diffusion in spatially varying porous media. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 75 (4), 1648-1674.
  25. Bruna, M., Chapman, S.J., & Smith, M.J. (2014). Model reduction for slow–fast stochastic systems with metastable behaviour. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 140 (17).
  26. Bruna, M., & Breward, C.J.W. (2014). The influence of non-polar lipids on tear film dynamics. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 746, 565-605.
  27. Bruna, M., & Chapman, S.J. (2014). Diffusion of finite-size particles in confined geometries. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 76, 947-982.
  28. Osborne, J.M., Bernabeu, M.O., Bruna, M., Calderhead, B., Cooper, J., et al. (2014). Ten simple rules for effective computational research. PLoS Computational Biology, 10 (3), e1003506.
  29. Bruna, M., & Chapman, S.J. (2012). Diffusion of multiple species with excluded-volume effects. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 137 (20).
  30. Bruna, M., & Chapman, S.J. (2012). Excluded-volume effects in the diffusion of hard spheres. Physical Review E, 85 (1).
  31. Sweatman, W.L., Wake, G.C., Fullard, L., & Bruna, M. (2011). Recovering vanadium during the production of steel from iron sand. ANZIAM Journal, 53, M1-M21.

Preprints

  1. Mason, J., Jack, R.L., & Bruna, M. (2024). Dynamical patterns in active-passive particle mixtures with non-reciprocal interactions: Exact hydrodynamic analysis.
  2. Bruna, M., Maini, P.K., & Robinson, M. (2018). Particle-based simulations of reaction-diffusion processes with Aboria.
  3. Bruna, M., Burger, M., Ranetbauer, H., & Wolfram, M.T. (2017). Asymptotic gradient flow structures of a nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation.

PhD thesis

Bruna, M. (2012). Excluded-volume effects in stochastic models of diffusion. University of Oxford.

People

PhDs

Postdocs

Teaching

Contact

Office: S2.03

email: bruna@maths.ox.ac.uk.

Address: Mathematical Institute
University of Oxford
Andrew Wiles Building
Radcliffe Observatory Quarter
Woodstock Road
Oxford OX2 6GG