Robert P Behringer, J. B. Duke Professor (secondary appts: Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering & Material Sciences)  

Office Location: 095 Physics
Office Phone: (919) 660-2550, (919) 660-2553
Email Address: bob@phy.duke.edu
Web Page: http://behringer.phy.duke.edu

Specialties:
Experimental condensed matter physics
Nonlinear dynamics and complex systems

Research Categories: Condensed Matter

Research Description: Dr. Behringer's research interests include granular materials: friction, earthquakes, jamming; nonlinear dynamics; and fluids: Rayleigh-Benard convection, the flow of thin liquid films, porous media flow, and quantum fluids. His studies focus particularly on experiments (with some theory/simulation) that yield new insights into the dynamics and complex behavior of these systems. His experiments involve a number of highly novel approaches, including the use of photoelasticity for probing granular systems, innovative experiments to characterize the stability of surface flows and properties of gels, and magnetic resonance imaging to study flows in porous media.

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

  1. J. Krim, Peidong Yu and R.P. Behringer, Stick-Slip and the Transition to Steady Sliding in a 2D Granular Medium and a Fixed Particle Lattice, Pure and Appl. Geophys., vol. 168 (2011), pp. 2295-2275 .
  2. J. Zhang, R. P. Behringer and A. Oron, Novel pattern forming states for Marangoni convection in volatile binary liquids, Phys. Fluids, vol. 23 (2011), pp. 072102 .
  3. J. Tang and R.P. Behringer, How Granular Materials Jam in a Hopper, Chaos (Accepted, 2011)  [author's comments].
  4. J. Ren, J. Dijksman and R.P. Behringer, Linear Shear in a Model Granular System, Chaos (Accepted, 2011)  [abs].
  5. Dapeng Bi, Jie Zhang, Bulbul Chakraborty and R.P. Behringer, Jamming by Shear, Nature, vol. 480 (2011), pp. 355-358 .

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

Postdocs Mentored

  • Joshua Dijksman (March 01, 2010 - present)  
  • Jie Zhang (2005 - present)  
  • Matthias Sperl (August, 2004 - November 28, 2006)  
  • Jean-Philippe Matas (2003/12-present)  
  • Brian Utter (2002/12-present)  
  • Karen Daniels (2002/12-present)  
  • Jeanman Sur (2002/12-present)  
  • Scott Paulson (2002/12-present)