Michael Rubinstein, Aleksandar S. Vesic Distinguished Professor  

Michael Rubinstein

Office Location: 3377 CIEMAS Building, Box 90300, Durham, NC 27708
Email Address: michael.rubinstein@duke.edu

Education:
Ph.D., Harvard University, 1983

Teaching (Spring 2025):

  • Me 555.14, Advanced topics Synopsis
    Fitzpatrk 1411, TuTh 01:25 PM-02:40 PM
  • Physics 590.01, Topics in theoretical physics Synopsis
    Fitzpatrk 1411, TuTh 01:25 PM-02:40 PM
  • Bme 590.04, Special topics Synopsis
    Fitzpatrk 1411, TuTh 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Wang, ZJ; Li, W; Li, X; Nakajima, T; Rubinstein, M; Gong, JP, Rapid self-strengthening in double-network hydrogels triggered by bond scission., Nature materials, vol. 24 no. 4 (April, 2025), pp. 607-614 [doi]  [abs].
  2. Hartquist, CM; Wang, S; Deng, B; Beech, HK; Craig, SL; Olsen, BD; Rubinstein, M; Zhao, X, Fracture of polymer-like networks with hybrid bond strengths, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, vol. 195 (February, 2025) [doi]  [abs].
  3. Vigil, DL; Ge, T; Rubinstein, M; O'Connor, TC; Grest, GS, Measuring Topological Constraint Relaxation in Ring-Linear Polymer Blends., Physical review letters, vol. 133 no. 11 (September, 2024), pp. 118101 [doi]  [abs].
  4. Wei, S; Smith-Jones, J; Lalisse, RF; Hestenes, JC; Chen, D; Danielsen, SPO; Bell, RC; Churchill, EM; Munich, NA; Marbella, LE; Gutierrez, O; Rubinstein, M; Nelson, A; Campos, LM, Light-Induced Living Polymer Networks with Adaptive Functional Properties., Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), vol. 36 no. 26 (June, 2024), pp. e2313961 [doi]  [abs].
  5. Chan, B; Rubinstein, M, Activity-driven chromatin organization during interphase: Compaction, segregation, and entanglement suppression., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 121 no. 21 (May, 2024), pp. e2401494121 [doi]  [abs].

Highlight:

The research of the Rubinstein group is in the field of polymer theory and computer simulations. The unique properties of polymeric systems are due to the size, topology and interactions of the molecules they are made of. Our goal is to understand the properties of various polymeric systems and to design new systems with even more interesting and useful properties.

Our approach is based upon building and solving simple molecular models of different polymeric systems. The models we develop are simple enough to be solved either analytically or numerically, but contain the main features leading to unique properties of real polymers. Computer simulations of our models serve as an important bridge between analytical calculations and experiments.