Joshua E. S. Socolar, Professor  

Joshua E. S. Socolar

Office Location: 096 Physics
Office Phone: (919) 660-2557
Email Address: socolar@phy.duke.edu
Web Page: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~socolar

Specialties:
Nonlinear dynamics and complex systems
Theoretical condensed matter physics
Biological physics

Education:
PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1987
BA, Haverford College, Haverford, PA, 1980

Research Categories: Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics; Nonlinear Dynamics; Systems Biology

Research Description: Prof. Socolar is interested in the principles that determine collective behavior in condensed matter and dynamical systems. His current research interests include:

  • Organization and function of complex dynamical networks, especially genetic regulatory networks;.
  • The spatial distribution of stresses granular materials (e.g. bins of sand, coal, pills, or grain) and jamming phenomena;
  • Controlling chaos, or understanding feedback mechanisms that can stabilize otherwise unstable ordered behavior in chaotic dynamical systems;
  • Quasicrystals, packing problems, and tiling theory.

Areas of Interest:
Theoretical condensed matter physics
Nonlinear dynamics and control theory
Statistical mechanics in nonequilibrium systems
Complex Boolean networks
Genetic regulatory networks
Aperiodic Tilings
Duke Center for Systems Biology
Center for Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences
Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems
Duke Network Analysis Center
Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Teaching (Spring 2012):

  • Physics 54l9r.01, General physics ii -(rec) Synopsis
    Physics 150, Th 01:15 PM-03:15 PM

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

  1. J.E.S. Socolar and J.M. Taylor, Forcing nonperiodicity with a single tile, The Mathematical Intelligencer, vol. 34 no. 1 (Spring, 2012) (Published in Online First: November 8, 2011.)  [abs] [author's comments].
  2. X. Cheng, M. Sun, and J. E. S. Socolar, An autonomous Boolean model of the Drosophila segment polarity gene network reveals timing constraints for pattern formation, Molecular Systems Biology (Submitted, December 16, 2011)  [abs].
  3. Socolar, Joshua E. S. and Taylor, Joan M., An aperiodic hexagonal tile, J. Comb. Theory Ser. A, vol. 118 (November, 2011), pp. 2207--2231, Academic Press, Inc. [001], [doi] .
  4. K. Khalil, A. Sagastegui, L. Yu, M. Tahir, J. E. S. Socolar, B. J. Wiley, and B. B. Yellen, Binary colloidal structures assembled through Ising interactions, Nature Materials (Submitted, October, 2011)  [abs].
  5. R. Durrett, J. P. Gleeson, A. Lloyd, P. J. Mucha, F. Shi, D. Sivakoff, J. E. S. Socolar, C. Varghese, Graph fission in an evolving voter model, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (Submitted, October, 2011)  [abs].

Bio/Profile
For more information, see Prof. Socolar's Home Page.

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

Postdocs Mentored

  • Volkan Sevim (March, 2008 - August, 2010)  
  • Bjorn Samuelsson (November, 2005 - August 31, 2007)