Dr. Katherine Newhall
Courant Institute at New York University
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
4:00 – 5:00 pm • SCP-229
“Investigating jammed matter from a ‘granocentric’ point of view“
Abstract: What do sand, soap foam, and skin have in common? They all divide space into local cells, forming a sort of unorganized mosaic. Common statistical properties of these mosaic tilings of space can be understood from a model for the local packing of hard spheres: The ‘granocentric’ model. I will discuss the mathematics behind the granocentric model, which is based on a stochastic process, and how it can be used to understand some of the unique physical properties of jammed matter, as well as draw connections to soap foams and epithelial tissues.