My research centers on applications of physics to large scale problems in astronomy, planetary science, and Earth science. My group has shown the physics of heat transfer is misunderstood which has led to unrealistic views of processes in large bodies. Our focus is analytical, rather than numerical. Recent collaborative work has recently revealed that so-called … Continued
My work focuses on using superconducting circuits to study novel quantum phenomena. One major effort is the study of condensed matter physics with microwave photons in these circuits. While photons generally interact only weakly, my group is building systems where these interactions are strong, and are expected to lead to many-body effects, including phase transitions … Continued
My research group studies and manipulates how electrons organize themselves and flow on the nanoscale. In this regime, quantum effects and electron interactions are important, confounding intuitions gleaned from larger-scale electronics. Our group has been excited about making and steering beams of electrons within atomically-thin materials, using topological insulators to build 1D wires whose resistance … Continued
Our group investigates the mechanisms of self-organization in strongly interacting many-body systems, particularly in systems driven far from equilibrium. This search for Nature’s fundamental organizing principles focuses on experimental studies of model systems, such as colloidal dispersions, whose organizational transformations are amenable to direct observation and external control. One focus of our program has been … Continued
My laboratory emphasizes the combined use of optical spectroscopy and optical imaging as a tool for materials characterization. The primary spectroscopic techniques we employ are photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation, and molecular fluorescence. The optical techniques we use include traditional far-field microscopy, confocal microscopy, interferometry, and near-field optics. The main areas of focus are characterization of semiconductor … Continued
Since receiving the Packard fellowship, I have been interested in the optical, electric and magnetic properties of colloidal nanoparticles. The current research is primarily in the infrared spectral range, where inorganic semiconductor quantum dots allow a wide spectral coverage by simply changing the size of the particles. My research group designs new colloidal quantum dots, … Continued
I conduct research in the area of physical acoustics, particularly nonlinear acoustics, and in recent years with an emphasis on biomedical applications. My research involves primarily analytical and computational modelling. I am currently involved in research on acoustic radiation force in tissue, acoustically driven bubble dynamics in blood vessels, nonlinear shear waves in relaxing media, … Continued
My research focuses on a variety of phenomena associated with plasmas and liquid metals. Current research projects are: investigation of magnetic field self-generation by flows of conducting metal (experimental dynamo research); propagation of electron Bernstein waves in plasmas; stabilization of current driven instabilities in fusion plasmas by flowing liquid metal walls; transport of energy and … Continued
I study how cell adhesion and migration is regulated by the physical behaviors and structure of the actin cytoskeleton, focal adhesions and cell-cell adhesions and how the physical behaviors of complex cytoskeletal machines emerge from their molecular constituents. My research employs approaches from condensed matter physics, cell biology and biochemistry to study the physical properties … Continued
An interesting way to formulate some problems that arise in science and industry is the following: given sets A and B (usually in a high dimensional Euclidean space), find a point in their intersection. This presentation of the problem would be empty if it were not for the fact that in many situations, finding an … Continued