The Syracuse Soft Matter Program presents
a public Lecture  "The sound of disorder"
featuring: Lisa Manning, Assistant Professor at Syracuse University
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
7:00 p.m.  Watson Theater

Abstract:  You are familiar with liquid-to-solid transitions — if you cool down water, it will turn into ice.   This large-scale observation is related to the microscopic order; in a liquid all the molecules are jumbled up, while in a solid they often line up in nice neat rows. However, scientists have recently become interested in a different type of liquid-to-solid transition where the constituent parts remain all jumbled up – or disordered – even in the solid.  You are familiar with this, too:  you can walk along a sandy beach, which means the sand is supporting your weight like a solid, but when you pick up the sand it will flow through your fingers like a liquid.  This “jamming” transition shows up everywhere: stiffening of homemade mayonnaise, You Tube videos of people running across tubs of cornstarch and water, manufacturing of plastics and golf clubs, robotics, and even developmental biology.  In my talk I will explain how all these things are related, and describe a bit of the recent research in our group to understand the theoretical underpinnings of these materials. In particular, I will explain how sound modes (or vibrations) in these solids help us explain their behavior.

Open to all ages and backgrounds.  Come with your curiosity and questions!

Reception to follow.

Professor Lisa Manning has received recognition for both research and teaching, including an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, an NSF CAREER grant, an NSF Graduate K-12 Fellowship, and two departmental teaching awards. She lives in Syracuse with her husband and one-year-old daughter.