Ninth Annual Greater Boston Area Statistical Mechanics Meeting
Saturday, October 13, 2007

Approximately 75 people attended one of the better meetings. Thank you to all who participated. We look forward to the tenth meeting next October.

Please join us on Saturday, October 13, 2007 at Brandeis University to meet and listen to your colleagues in the New England area working in statistical mechanics. The goal of these meetings is to offer an informal, friendly, and supportive environment where people from a variety of departments and institutions can meet and exchange ideas and where old and new friends can meet.

Contributed talks   Directions   Announcements   pdf file for posting   Organizing committee   Advisory committee

There will be coffee, tea, and bagels from 9:00 am to 9:30 am and four sessions beginning at 9:30 am. Each session features a 25 minute invited talk. The first three sessions also include several three minute contributed talks. One Windows and and one Mac OS X notebook computer will be available on which you can load your talk from a USB flash drive or CD in advance of the session. Powerpoint and Acrobat Reader will be available on both computers and Keynote will be available on the Mac. The number of contributed talks will be limited to ensure time for questions after each talk. Lunch will last for 80 minutes to give attendees a chance to mingle. Coffee and tea will be available at all times. The meeting will conclude at approximately 3:30 pm to give attendees time to catch the train back to Cambridge.

Schedule

9:00 - 9:30 amBagels, coffee, and tea    
9:30 - 10:25 am Session I Michael Hagan, Brandeis University, Chair
9:30 - 10:00 am Ophelia Tsui Boston University "Stability of polymer films interpreted as a phase separation problem in two dimensions"
10:00 - 10:25 am Contributed talks    
10:25 - 10:55 am Coffee and informal discussions    
10:55 am - 11:50 am Session II Arshad Kudrolli, Clark University
10:55 - 11:25 am Francis Starr Wesleyan University "Using DNA as a template to design novel materials"
11:25 - 11:50 am Contributed talks    
11:50 - 1:20 pm Lunch and Informal Conversations    
1:10 - 2:05 pm Session III Tom Keyes, Boston University Chair
1:10 - 1:35 pm Contributed talks    
1:35 - 2:05 pm Young-Kyun Kwon University of Massachusetts, Lowell "Computational modeling and applications of nanostructured materials"
2:05 - 2:20 pm Coffee and informal discussions    
2:20 - 3:10 pm Session IV Peter Weichman, BAE Systems Chair Chair
2:20 - 2:40 pm Contributed talks    
2:40 - 3:10 pm Albert-Laszlo Barabasi Northeastern University "From complex networks to human behavior"

Contributed talks

Session I

  1. Judith Herzfeld, Brandeis University, "A simple model of amphiprotic water."
  2. Sara Walker, Dartmouth College, "The chiral origins of life."
  3. Alvaro Sanchez, Brandeis University, "Transcriptional control of noise in gene expression."
  4. Andrew Paradis, University of Maine, "The impact of cholesterol-lipid interactions on a non-equilibrium plasma membrane model."
  5. Amandeep K. Sangha, Boston University, "Diffusive dynamics of protein folding."
  6. Mitch Mailman, Brandeis University, "Phase transition in a minimal model of microtubule dynamics: Simulation results."
  7. Aleksandr Kivenson, Brandeis University, "A lattice model of viral capsid assembly."

Session II

  1. Lauren O'Malley, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, "Extreme front fluctuations in diffusion-limited individual-based ecological invasion models."
  2. Rachele Dominguez, Boston University, "Clumps and stripes in the long range antiferromagnetic Ising model."
  3. Kipton Barros, Boston University, "Fluid-solid transition in the long-range antiferromagnetic "clump model."
  4. Qiming Lu, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, "Engineering consensus in social networks."
  5. Yasheng Yang, Brandeis University, "Connectivity and transition rates of a Lennard-Jones glass former."
  6. Don Blair, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, "On the diameter of random cluster models."

Session III

  1. Zhaohui Yang, Boston University, "Equilibration pathway of spin-coated films."
  2. Xi Lin, Boston University, "Prediction of viscosity of a supercooled complex liquid."
  3. Tzong-Ru Terry Han, Boston University, "Viscosity of an unstable polymer film."
  4. Ya Liu, Brandeis University, "Shapes of semiflexible polymers in confined spaces."
  5. Ryan McGorty, Harvard University, "The structure and dynamics of colloids on a spherical interface."
  6. Gungnan Meng, Harvard University, "Self-assembly of colloidal particles at small N."
  7. Natalie Arkus, Harvard University, "Directing the self-assembly of spherical particles."

Session IV

  1. Vladimir Gritsev, Harvard University, "Coulomb gas approach to statistics of fluctuating condensates."
  2. Michael Mihalco, University of Maine, "Properties of the two-dimensional Ising spin glass from a hard-spin mean-field treatment."
  3. Burcu Yucesoy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, "Field-driven hysteresis of the d = 3 Ising spin glass: Hard-spin mean-field theory."
  4. Ingo Ramsteiner, Harvard University, "Colloidal crystals as model systems for solid state phenomena."
  5. Kevin Safford, Clark University, "Granular polymers: Structure and dynamics of a beaded chain."
  6. Ying Wang, Wellesley College, "Aging of silica suspensions in silicone oil: Effects of surfactants."
  7. Greg Huber, University of Connecticut, "Some randomness from the Ministry of Silly Walks."

The cost of the meeting is subsidized by the New England Section of the American Physical Society, and hence there is no registration fee if you register by the deadline. Please join the New England Section if you are not already a member. It is necessary to register in advance so that sufficient food and refreshments will be available. The deadline for registration was Tuesday, October 9. If you know that you are coming and haven't registered, please send a message to Harvey Gould.

Directions to Brandeis

The location of the meeting at Brandeis University is the same as last year. The meeting will be held on the first floor of Lemberg Lee Hall, Room 180, in the Lemberg Academic Center. Because of construction, it is necessary to take an indirect route. As you enter Brandeis through the main entrance on South Street, drive toward the police booth and then take a left. At the next intersection take a left just after the Admissions building. You will quickly be in the T parking lot, behind the theater. Turn right and drive to the very far end of the lot and park. Walk up the roadway ahead of you and enter the Lemberg Academic Center on your right. Campus map, click on the PDF version. No parking permits are needed. Signs will be posted on the day of the meeting.

The Brandeis/Roberts commuter rail stop is very convenient. Trains depart to North Station at 3:44 pm, 6:11 pm, 6:34 pm, and 10:14 pm. Buses are also available.

Announcements

Previous meetings

  1. The first meeting took place on Saturday, October 16, 1999 at Brandeis. We honored the memory of Eugene Gross, a founding member of the physics faculty at Brandeis University and well known researcher in statistical mechanics.
  2. Saturday, October 14, 2000.
  3. Saturday, October 20, 2001.
  4. Saturday, October 19, 2002.
  5. Saturday, October 18, 2003.
  6. Saturday, October 16, 2004.
  7. Saturday, October 22, 2005.
  8. Saturday, October 21, 2006.

Organizing committee

Advisory committee

Please send questions, comments, and corrections to Harvey Gould.

Updated 22 April 2008.