Ph.D. Princeton, 1979
I am interested in the physics of nonequilibrium systems, especially in how these systems create nontrivial spatial patterns. Nonequilibrium dynamics usually involves the time evolution of a spatially extended set of degrees of freedom which evolve nonlinearly while interacting with each other via transport processes. Falling within this framework are problems that arise in physics and material science, chemical reaction kinetics and biological morphogenesis. Most recently, my work has emphasized structures formed in micro-organism aggregation (both bacteria colonies and cellular slime mold), rotating waves that appear in a variety of nonlinear chemical systems (CO catalysis on a metal surface, e.g.), and the use of field theoretic approaches for the study of disordered and fractal patterns in crystallization.
Selected Publications:
Controlling Spatiotemporal Chaos. With I. Aranson and L. Tsimring. Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2561 (1994).
Theory of the Spiral Core in Excitable Media. With D.A. Kessler, and W.N. Reynolds. Physica D, 70, 115 (1994).
Pattern Formation in Dictyostelium Via the Dynamics of Cooperative Biological Entities. With D.A. Kessler. Physical Review E, 48, 4801 (1993).
Morphology Transitions in a Mean-Field Model of Diffusion-Limited Growth. With Y.H. Tu, and D. Ridgway. Phys. Rev. Lett., 71, 3828 (1993).
Resonant Interactions and Traveling-Solidification Cells. With W.J. Rappel and H. Riecke. Phys. Rev. A 43, 1122 (1991).