Nonlinear and Non-equilibrium Physics Unit
Complex phenomena in nature, by virtue of being familiar to us, are easily recognizable. This familiarity however does not extend to our understanding of the processes underlying such phenomena. Their occurrence in noisy, natural environments renders them robust, with most effort then dedicated to designing the simplest experiments that capture the important governing variables capable of providing as minimal a description as possible.
Such phenomena arise in systems driven far from equilibrium with nonlinear responses, for which theoretical understanding has yet to be gleaned from careful construction of experimental evidence. Our group’s experimental efforts are trained in large measure towards gaining such understanding of fundamental phenomena, but whose answers find use in the applied realm.
While our research spans many length scales and disciplines, the seemingly different projects are united through the application of the ever-useful tools of nonlinear and non-equilibrium physics. A sample of questions that we ask includes:
- How do surfactants spread on water, with implications from detergent action to oil spills?
- How does friction control the behavior of granular materials, whether on the scale of cereal and pills or earthquakes and mudslides?
- How is the motion of a drone coupled to turbulence in the air around them?
- How did stiffness emerge in the foot as we humans evolved from our arboreal ancestors to our current terrestrial forms?
- What is the character of fluctuations in wind and solar photovoltaic power generation?
If our work interests you, we invite you to explore our Research and Publications for further details.
