Skip to main content

Joshua Socolar

Professor of Physics
Physics
Box 90305, 107 Physics Bldg, Durham, NC 27708-0305
096 Physics Bldg, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Prof. Socolar is interested in collective behavior in condensed matter and dynamical systems. His current research interests include:
  • Limit-periodic structures, quasicrystals, packing problems, and tiling theory;
  • Self-assembly and phases of designed colloidal particles;
  • Shear jamming and stick-slip behavior in dry granular materials;
  • Organization and dynamics of complex networks;
  • Topological elasticity of mechanical lattices.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of Physics · 2011 - Present Physics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published April 4, 2024
Faculty Council Approves New Undergraduate Curriculum
Published January 5, 2021
Conjuring Coltrane
Published September 18, 2015
Visualizing the Exotic Patterns of the Crystals of the Cosmos

View All News

Recent Publications


Quasicrystalline structure of the hat monotile tilings

Journal Article Physical Review B · December 1, 2023 Tiling models can reveal unexpected ways in which local constraints give rise to exotic long-range spatial structure. The recently discovered hat monotile (and its mirror image) has been shown to be aperiodic [Smith, arXiv:2303.10798]; it can tile the plan ... Full text Cite

Evolution of force networks during stick-slip motion of an intruder in a granular material: Topological measures extracted from experimental data.

Journal Article Physical review. E · November 2023 In quasi-two-dimensional experiments with photoelastic particles confined to an annular region, an intruder constrained to move in a circular path halfway between the annular walls experiences stick-slip dynamics. We discuss the response of the granular me ... Full text Cite
View All Publications

Recent Grants


Stick-slip dynamics and failure in granular materials

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Army Research Office · 2018 - 2022

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Training Program

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2005 - 2021

Structure, Response, and Flow of Dense Granular Materials

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2018 - 2021

View All Grants

Education, Training & Certifications


University of Pennsylvania · 1987 Ph.D.
Haverford College · 1980 B.A.