News Items

Our Most Recent Publication (See all of them)

Developed Smectics: When Exact Solution Agree,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 (2012) 047802, by Gareth P. Alexander, Randall D. Kamien, and Christian D. Santangelo
In the limit where the bending modulus vanishes, we construct layer configurations with arbitrary dislocation textures by exploiting a connection between uniformly-spaced layers in two dimensions and developable surfaces in three dimensions. We then show how these focal textures can be used to construct layer configurations with finite bending modulus.




General News

  • Graduate Student Bryan Chen chosen as GSNP Student Award Finalist. (December 2011)

  • Bryan Chen awarded the 2011 Herbert B. Callen Prize "For his groundbreaking application of topological methods to characterize and identify order in liquid crystalline materials." (August 2007)

  • Gareth Alexander accepts faculty position at University of Warwick. (June 2011)

  • Bryan Chen wins 2nd place in UPenn Art of Research Graduate Symposium speaking on the The River Banks of Ellsworth Kelly's Seine. (May 2011)

  • Sabetta Matsumoto defends thesis. Congratulations! (April 2011)

  • Dan Beller awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 2011-2014. (April 2011)

  • Bryan Chen awarded Dean's Dissertation Fellowship for 2011-2012. (March 2011)

  • Dan Beller awarded Department of Physics and Astronomy's 2008 Werner B. Teutsch Prize, Awarded annually to the graduate student who, by his or her performance in the first year courses, shows the most promise for outstanding achievement in research. (March 2011)

  • Sabetta Matsumoto accepts fellowship at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science. (January 2011)

  • Randy Kamien awarded Samsung Mid-Career Award from the International Liquid Crystal Society. (June 2010)

  • Sabetta Matsumoto awarded 2010 Eli Burstein Prize, "For imaginative application of elasticity theory to nonlinear pattern formation at the nanoscale and for its connection to and corroboration by experiment." (May 2010)

  • Bryan Chen awarded Dean's Research Fellowship for 2010-2011. (April 2010)

  • Sabetta Matsumoto is chosen for GSNP Student Speaker Award! (March 2010)

  • Graduate Student Sabetta Matsumoto chosen as GSNP Student Award Finalist. (December 2009)

  • Cleverson Filgueiras successfully defends thesis! (November 2009)

  • Vincenzo Vitelli accepts faculty position at Leiden University. (April 2009)

  • Bryan Chen awarded Department of Physics and Astronomy's 2008 Werner B. Teutsch Prize, Awarded annually to the graduate student who, by his or her performance in the first year courses, shows the most promise for outstanding achievement in research. (September 2008)

  • Carl Modes accepts a post-doctoral position at the Cavendish Laboratory for Fall 2008. (July 2008)

  • Graduate Student Carl Modes chosen as GSNP Student Award Finalist. (December 2007)

  • Randy Kamien supervised a math club at the Meadowbrook School in Abington, PA (November 2007).


  • Vincenzo Vitelli to give Invited Talk at 2008 APS March Meeting. (October 2007)

  • Vincenzo Vitelli awarded the 2007 Herbert B. Callen Prize "For his insightful work on the interplay between geometry and superfluid order." (August 2007)

  • Randy Kamien gives lecture on tiling at the "Physics is for Kids Barbecue" in Aspen, CO (August 2007) [click here for the whole show].

  • Greg Grason accepts faculty position at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. (June 2007)

  • Sabetta Matsumoto elected to Phi Beta Kappa. (April 2007)

  • Sabetta Matsumoto awarded the William E. Stephens Memorial Prize, Awarded annually to the graduating physics major who has demonstrated, during the course of his or her undergraduate course work, the most promise for a successful career as a scientist based on overall performance in all aspects of the undergraduate program as judged by members of the physics faculty. (March 2007)

  • Chris Santangelo accepts faculty position at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. (August 2006)

  • Chris Santangelo receives the 2006 Glenn H. Brown Prize from the International Liquid Crystal Society for "illuminating theories on the importance of fluctuations on the elasticity of liquid crystalline lamellar phases and fluid membranes." (April 2006)

Talks and Presentations

  • March Meeting 2012, Boston, MA:
    Upcoming talks:
    • Last Modified 13 December 2011