ICTP WORKSHOP (Apr '06)

INTERFACE OF LIFE (Jan '08)

MOLECULAR MOTORS, TRACKS AND TRANSPORT (Jan '10)

My research applies methods from statistical mechanics to problems in condensed matter physics and biophysics.

Much of my work is in the area of the magnetic properties of superconductors, including the theoretical description of problems such as flux-lattice melting, vortex glass phenomenology, the peak effect, driven disordered flux-line arrays, surface melting of the vortex lattice and models for data from muon-spin rotation experiments.

Some results: the direct observation of the vortex glass phase (PRL '04), the resolution of a puzzle in muon-spin rotation experiments on flux-line systems (PRL '06), the theory of the surface melting of the vortex lattice (PRL, '06, PRB, '07) and a thermodynamically consistent theory for flux-lattice melting (PRB, '07, and earlier work).

We've made some progress recently towards understanding peak effect anomalies in type-II superconductors (PRB-RC,'07,PRB,'10).

Older work includes a proposal for a universal phase diagram for weakly disordered superconductors (PRB, '02 + several other papers), reentrant melting of vortex lines at low fields (PRL, '96), correlations of disordered flux-lines and melting of the disordered flux-lattice (PRL, '94), the theory of muon-spin-rotation experiments in disordered superconductors (PRB, '98) and the development of density functional theories of flux-lattice melting (PRL, '91, PRB, '96).

Some recent work: the modeling of double stranded DNA with bubbles (PRL, '05), particle correlations on rough substrates (EPL, '05), the glass transition (EPL, '06), active membranes and their dynamical behaviour (PRE, '02, EPJE, '09), pattern formation in motor microtubule mixtures (PRE, '04), irreversible- reversible transitions in sheared colloids (PRE,'09), liquid crystal statics and dynamics (PRE, '08, PRE, '08, PRE, '09, JCP, '09,JCP, '10) and the statistical mechanics of polymer rings (PRE, '08, J. Stat. Phys, '08). Older work includes models for living polymers, sponge phases, and the collective behavior of molecular motors.

A general interest of mine, particularly more recently, is the theoretical description of soft and biological matter (active matter) far from thermal equilibrium. This was the topic of a workshop I jointly organized in Trieste, Italy in 2006 (see link).

A brief review of the physics of active matter can be found here (in ``Rheology of Complex Fluids'', Springer, 2010).

A chapter describing the basics of disordered systems and introducing spin glass physics is available here (this is part of a book on the ``Physics of Disordered Systems''.)

Click the topics below for selected publications.

• Type-II Superconductivity
• Statistical Mechanics
• Soft Matter and Biological Physics

Career

• Ph.D, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India (1994) 
• Visiting Fellow, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India (1994-96) 
• Post-doctoral Fellow/Sessional Instructor, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada (1996-98) 
• Fellow, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India (1998-2003) 
• Reader, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India (2003-2006) 
• Associate, Indian Academy of Sciences, India (1996-2001) 
• DST Fast Track Fellowship (2002)
• Swarnajayanti Fellowship (2005)
• Professor, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India (2006-) 

Seminars and Invited Talks