David Hewett

Professor of Mathematics
Department of Mathematics
University College London
25 Gordon Street
London
WC1H 0AY
United Kingdom

E-mail: d.hewett@ucl.ac.uk
Web: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucahdhe/
Room: 4.15

About me

I am a Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at University College London and an OCIAM Visiting Fellow in the Oxford Mathematical Institute.

Research interests

My research concerns the mathematical study of wave propagation and its applications. My research is at the interfaces between rigorous applied and numerical analysis, asymptotic analysis and mathematical modelling.

My interests include:

***PhD positions available***

Funded PhD positions at UCL are available for 2025 entry through the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Collaborative Computational Modelling at the Interface (CCMI).

Maths and music

Youtube video (approx 4 mins long) about my collaboration "Rhythms of fractals and collective movement" with Angelika Manhart (mathematical biologist, formerly at UCL, now at University of Vienna) and Bernhard Schimpelsberger (percussionist) on the connections between our mathematical research and musical rhythms

Publications

Refereed journal articles

  1. A. M. Caetano, S. N. Chandler-Wilde, X. Claeys, A. Gibbs, D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, Integral equation methods for acoustic scattering by fractals, Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 481, 20230650, 2025. article (open access) preprint
  2. A. M. Caetano, S. N. Chandler-Wilde, A. Gibbs, D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, A Hausdorff-measure boundary element method for acoustic scattering by fractal screens, Numer. Math., 156, 463-532, 2024. article (open access) preprint
  3. A. Gibbs, D. P. Hewett, D. Huybrechs, Numerical evaluation of oscillatory integrals via automated steepest descent contour deformation, J. Comp. Phys., 501, 112787, 2024. article (open access) preprint
  4. J. R. Ockendon, H. Ockendon, R. H. Tew, D. P. Hewett, A. Gibbs, A caustic terminating at an inflection point, Wave Motion, 125, 103257, 2024. article (open access) preprint
  5. A. Gibbs, D. P. Hewett, B. Major, Numerical evaluation of singular integrals on non-disjoint self-similar fractal sets, Numer. Alg., 97, 311-343, 2024. article (open access) preprint
  6. A. Kleanthous, A. J. Baran, T. Betcke, D. P. Hewett, C. D. Westbrook, An application of the boundary element method (BEM) to the calculation of the single-scattering properties of very complex ice crystals in the microwave and sub-millimetre regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 312, 108793, 2024. article
  7. A. Gibbs, D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, Numerical quadrature for singular integrals on fractals, Numer. Alg., 92, 2071-2124, 2023. article (open access) preprint
  8. A. Kleanthous, T. Betcke, D. P. Hewett, P. Escapil-Inchauspé, C. Jerez-Hanckes, A. J. Baran, Accelerated Calderón preconditioning for Maxwell transmission problems, J. Comp. Phys, 458, 111099, 2022. article (open access) preprint
  9. J. Bannister, A. Gibbs, D. P. Hewett, Acoustic scattering by impedance screens/cracks with fractal boundary: well-posedness analysis and boundary element approximation, Math. Mod. Meth. Appl. Sci. (M3AS), 32(2), 291-319, 2022. article preprint
  10. A. M. Caetano, D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, Density results for Sobolev, Besov and Triebel-Lizorkin spaces on rough sets, J. Funct. Anal., 281(3), 109019, 2021. article preprint
  11. S. N. Chandler-Wilde, D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, J. Besson, Boundary element methods for acoustic scattering by fractal screens, Numer. Math., 147(4), 785-837, 2021. article (open access) preprint
  12. A. Gibbs, D. P. Hewett, D. Huybrechs, E. Parolin, Fast hybrid numerical-asymptotic boundary element methods for high frequency screen and aperture problems based on least-squares collocation, SN Partial Differ. Equat. Appl., 1(21), 2020. article (open access) preprint
  13. B. Delourme, D. P. Hewett, Electromagnetic shielding by thin periodic structures and the Faraday cage effect, C. R. Acad. Sci. I - Math, 358 (7), 777-784, 2020. article preprint
  14. A. Kleanthous, T. Betcke, D. P. Hewett, M. Scroggs, A. J. Baran, Calderón preconditioning of PMCHWT boundary integral equations for scattering by multiple absorbing dielectric particles, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 224, 383-395, 2019. article preprint
  15. D. P. Hewett, J. R. Ockendon, V. P. Smyshlyaev, Contour integral solutions of the parabolic wave equation, Wave Motion, 84, 90-109, 2019. article preprint
  16. S. P. Groth, D. P. Hewett, S. Langdon, A high frequency boundary element method for scattering by penetrable convex polygons, Wave Motion, 78, 32-53, 2018. article preprint
  17. S. N. Chandler-Wilde, D. P. Hewett, Well-posed PDE and integral equation formulations for scattering by fractal screens, SIAM J. Math. Anal., 50(1), 677-717, 2018. article preprint
  18. D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, A note on properties of the restriction operator on Sobolev spaces, J. Appl. Anal., 23(1), 1-8, 2017. article preprint
  19. S. N. Chandler-Wilde, D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, Sobolev spaces on non-Lipschitz subsets of Rn with application to boundary integral equations on fractal screens, Integr. Equat. Operat. Th., 87(2), 179-224, 2017. article preprint
  20. D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, On the maximal Sobolev regularity of distributions supported by subsets of Euclidean space, Anal. Appl., 15(5), 731-770, 2017. article preprint
  21. D. P. Hewett, I. J. Hewitt, Homogenized boundary conditions and resonance effects in Faraday cages, Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 472, 2189, 2016 article preprint erratum
  22. D. P. Hewett, Shadow boundary effects in hybrid numerical-asymptotic methods for high frequency scattering, Euro. J. Appl. Math., 26(5), 773-793, 2015 article preprint
  23. S. J. Chapman, D. P. Hewett, L. N. Trefethen, Mathematics of the Faraday cage, SIAM Review, 57(3), 398-417, 2015 article preprint
  24. D. P. Hewett, S. Langdon, S. N. Chandler-Wilde, A frequency-independent boundary element method for scattering by two-dimensional screens and apertures, IMA J. Numer. Anal., 35 (4), 1698-1728, 2015 article preprint
  25. D. P. Hewett, Tangent ray diffraction and the Pekeris caret function, Wave Motion, 57, 257-267, 2015 article preprint
  26. S. N. Chandler-Wilde, D. P. Hewett, Wavenumber-explicit continuity and coercivity estimates in acoustic scattering by planar screens, Integr. Equat. Operat. Th., 82(3), 423-449, 2015 article preprint
  27. D. P. Hewett, A. Morris, Diffraction by a right-angled impedance wedge: an edge source formulation, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 137(2), 633-639, 2015 article*
  28. S. N. Chandler-Wilde, D. P. Hewett, A. Moiola, Interpolation of Hilbert and Sobolev spaces: quantitative estimates and counterexamples, Mathematika, 61(2), 414-443, 2015 article preprint CORRIGENDUM
  29. S. N. Chandler-Wilde, D. P. Hewett, S. Langdon, A. Twigger, A high frequency boundary element method for scattering by a class of nonconvex obstacles, Numer. Math., 129(4), 647-689, 2015 article preprint
  30. S. P. Groth, D. P. Hewett, S. Langdon, Hybrid numerical-asymptotic approximation for high frequency scattering by penetrable convex polygons, IMA J. Appl. Math., 80(2), 324-353, 2015 article preprint
  31. D. P. Hewett, U. P. Svensson, The diffracted field near the edge of a thin screen, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 134(6), 4303-4306, 2013 article* erratum***
  32. D. P. Hewett, S. Langdon, J. M. Melenk, A high frequency hp boundary element method for scattering by convex polygons, SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 51(1), 629-653, 2013 article preprint
  33. D. P. Hewett, High frequency sound propagation in a network of interconnecting streets, J. Sound Vib., 331(25), 5537-5561, 2012 article preprint
  34. D. P. Hewett, J. R. Ockendon, D. J. Allwright, Switching on a two-dimensional scalar wave in the presence of a diffracting edge, Wave Motion, 48, 197-213, 2011 article preprint

Refereed conference proceedings

Other publications

*Copyright (2013) Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America. This article appeared in J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134(6), 4303-4306 (2013) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4828824
**Copyright (2015) Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America. This article appeared in J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 137(2), 633-639 (2015) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4906265
***Copyright (2015) Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America. This article appeared in J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 137(3), 1605 (2015) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4908215

Awards

Popular press

Workshops/conference/minisymposium organisation

Editorial and other positions of responsibility

I am an Associate Editor for the IMA Journal of Applied Mathematics

I am a Coordinator of the Mathematical Analysis in Acoustics Special Interest Group of the EPSRC UK Acoustics Network Plus (UKAN+)

Personal and professional development training

I take a keen interest in the personal and professional development of young researchers. At UCL I regularly deliver training to PhD students, postdocs and new lecturers, covering various aspects of academic life. At Oxford I have delivered numerous PhD student training courses including "Foundations for a Successful DPhil" (a one-day course for first-year DPhil students) and "GRAD Challenge" (a three-day course for 2nd/3rd year DPhil students). In collaboration with Alison Trinder from the Oxford MPLS Division I have delivered sessions in the Oxford Mathematical Institute "Fridays@4" series (click links for slides):

Professional affiliations

Former President and a founding member of the Oxford University SIAM Student Chapter

Previous positions

From 2013-2016 I was a Hooke Research Fellow in the Oxford Mathematical Institute and a Junior Research Fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford.

From 2010-2013 I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Reading, working in collaboration with Simon Chandler-Wilde and Steve Langdon on the EPSRC-funded grant "Boundary integral equation methods for high frequency scattering problems". The aim of the project was to develop novel numerical methods for solving high-frequency scattering problems based on a detailed understanding of the asymptotic behaviour of the scattered wave in the high-frequency limit. The project also involved collaboration with Andrea Moiola, Samuel Groth and Ashley Twigger at the University of Reading, Ivan Graham and Euan Spence at the University of Bath and Valery Smyshlyaev and Timo Betcke at University College London - for further details and recent work in this area see the Project Homepage, and the comprehensive review article published a few years ago in Acta Numerica.

My DPhil studies at the University of Oxford from 2006-2010 with John Ockendon and David Allwright concerned the modelling of sound propagation in urban environments, with a particular emphasis on high frequency propagation, and on the study of the inverse problem of source localisation, where the location of a sound source is to be determined from measurements of the sound field at various receivers distributed through the propagation domain. My DPhil was an Industrial CASE Award with Dstl.

Biography

MMath, University of Warwick (2002-2006)
DPhil, OCIAM, University of Oxford (2006-2010)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Reading (2010-2013)
Hooke Research Fellow, University of Oxford (2013-2016)
Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, University College London (2016-2019)
Associate Professor in Mathematics, University College London (2019-2023)
Professor of Mathematics, University College London (2023-)