Diverse systems exhibit remarkedly similar, sometimes even universal behavior.
Studies in the Center of solid, fluid, granular, chemical, and biological systems involve laboratory experiments, numerical simulations, and theoretical analyses. Problems currently being examined include instabilities at fluid interfaces, dynamics of fluidized beds, spatial patterns and shock waves in granular flows, pattern formation in chemical reaction-diffusion systems, crack propagation in crystalline and amorphous materials, viscoelasticity of actin networks, elastic properties of normal and pathological biological cells, and enhancement of neuronal growth. The group includes five faculty members, five postdoctoral research associates, twenty five graduate students, and ten undergraduates.