Joshua E. S. Socolar, Associate Professor of Physics

Office Location:	096 Physics Bldg
Office Phone:	+1 919 660 2557
Email Address:
Web Page:	http://www.phy.duke.edu/~socolar

Teaching (Fall 2008):

• PHYSICS 143L.001, OPTICS & MODERN PHYSICS

  Physics 150, MWF 10:20 AM-11:10 AM

• PHYSICS 143L.01L, OPTICS & MODERN PHYSICS

  Physics 005, W 01:15 PM-03:15 PM

• PHYSICS 143L.02L, OPTICS & MODERN PHYSICS

  Physics 005, Th 03:30 PM-05:30 PM

• PHYSICS 143L.03L, OPTICS & MODERN PHYSICS

  Physics 005, F 01:30 PM-03:30 PM

• PHYSICS 143L.04L, OPTICS & MODERN PHYSICS

  Physics 005, W 06:00 PM-08:00 PM

Education:

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

Specialties:

Nonlinear dynamics and complex systems
Theoretical condensed matter physics

Research Interests: Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics

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

Keywords:

Condensed matter • Granular materials • Nonlinear dynamics • Control theory • Genetic regulatory networks • Boolean networks • Tiling theory

Current Ph.D. Students  

• Xianrui Cheng  
• (Sam) Xinwei Gong  
• Johannes Norrell  

Postdocs Mentored

• Bjorn Samuelsson (November, 2005 - August 31, 2007)  

Recent Publications

1. D.A. Orlando, C.Y. Lin, A. Bernard, J.Y. Wang, J.E.S. Socolar, E.S. Iversen, A.J. Hartemink, and S.B. Haase, Global control of cell-cycle transcription by coupled CDK and network oscillators, Nature (May 7, 2008) (Published online. doi:10.1038/nature06955.) [html]
2. A.S. Ribeiro, S.A. Kauffman, J. Lloyd-Price, B. Samuelsson, J.E.S. Socolar, Mutual information in random Boolean models of regulatory networks, Physical Review E, vol. 77 (2008), pp. 011901 [3642]  [abs]
3. B.P. Tighe and J.E.S. Socolar, Nonlinear elastic stress response in granular packings, Physical Review E, vol. 77 (2008), pp. 031303 [GetabsServlet]  [abs]
4. A. Shreim, P. Grassberger, W. Nadler, B. Samuelsson, J.E.S. Socolar, and M. Paczuski, Network Analysis of the State Space of Discrete Dynamical Systems, Physical Review Letters, vol. 98 (2007), pp. 198701 [e198701]  [abs]
5. J. Norrell, B. Samuelsson, and J.E.S. Socolar, Attractors in continuous and Boolean networks, Physical Review E, vol. 76 (2007), pp. 046122 [e046122]  [abs]

Recent Grant Support

• Duke Center for Systems Biology, National Institutes of Health (NIGMS), 2007/07-2012/06.      
• Collaborative Research: Dynamics of Boolean Networks and Gene Expression, National Science Foundation, 2004/09-2007/08.      

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