Theoretical, statistical thermodynamical studies of liquid state polymers represent an important scientific tool in modern polymer physics. One of our interests lies in predicting the thermodynamic properties of multi-component polymer mixtures, such as phase behavior, miscibility, or neutron scattering intensity as a function of monomer structures, temperature, pressure, and blend composition. Another interest focuses on the equilibrium polymerization that is a paradigm for clustering transitions occurring in numerous systems, ranging from various nano-particle filled materials to proteins in living organisms. An illustrative example of this research is provided by our recent description of the equilibrium polymerization of actin. 

(Personal Profile)

As a member of the Sibener group, my interests involve studying gas-surface interactions. The main tool for these studies is an ultra-high-vacuum chamber that allows us to expose the surface of interest to gases from three independent molecular beams. Reactions at the surface, and the energy, angular distribution, and identity of any scattered or desorbed atom or molecule can be determined. Recent experiments have examined the oxidation of benzene and the translational energy dependence of methane decomposition on Rh(111). We have also studied the surface reactions of atomic O, examining the partial oxidation of adsorbed organic compounds, and the modification of the transition metal surface. The latter allowed us to grow a novel, dense water overlayer. Currently, we are studying the scattering of gases from organic monolayers. Future work will measure the surface reactions of atomic O at high kinetic energies, a problem for objects in low-earth orbit. 

Dr. Qiti Guo joined Professor Emeritus Ole Kleppa’s group in 1992, working on experimental thermochemistry. He has determined the standard enthalpies of formation for more than 150 intermetallic compounds of early transition metals with late transition metals and with noble metals. In 1998, he accepted a job offer from the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and has been in charge of the Materials Preparation Laboratory (MPL) since then. His research interests include: (1) Applications of Scanning Probing Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy to materials research. (2) Application of electron beam lithography to materials research. (3) Thermochemistry of intermetallic compounds and mixed oxide systems, using high-temperature reaction calorimetry. (4) Theoretical analysis of topological structures of phase diagrams for systems of n+3 phases (n stands for the number of independent components of the systems), with emphasis on the interrelationship between phase chemography and phase diagram topology. (5) Topological relations in systems of more than n+3 phases. He is also responsible for training students and postdocs for operating SEM, AFM/STM and other MRSEC shared facilities in MPL.

Dr. Lin obtained her Ph. D in Physics at Northwestern University in 1990 and joined Professor Stuart Rice's group as a postdoc the same year. In 1994, she became a beamline scientist at Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS), University of Chicago. She is in charge of liquid surface/interfacial scattering experimental station in ChemMatCARS at the Advanced Photon Sources, Argonne National Laboratories (CheMatCARS is a national synchrotron x-ray facility for chemistry and material sciences). Her research interests in CARS are on surface/interfacial structural and dynamic properties of soft materials, and systems of interests include Langmuir monolayers, polymer/metal nano-particle composites, and liquid metals. Dr. Lin also conducts research in James Franck Institute on the behaviors of colloidal suspensions confined in one-dimensional narrow channels. Digital video microscopy is used for the experimental measurements, and synchrotron x-ray static/dynamic scattering techniques are to be used in the future measurements. She is studying the effects of the confinement on the diffusion and ordering of the colloidal spheres in the channels.

Daniel Silevitch arrived here after completing his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University under Dan Reich and C.L. Chien, where he studied the behavior of ferromagnetic materials at sub-micron length scales. Currently, he works for Prof. Tom Rosenbaum, studying the behavior of reduced-dimensional Ising ferromagnets.
 

(Personal Profile)

Dr. Zhao is a research associate working with Professor Stuart Rice. His research include active control of quantum dynamical processes, the properties of solid-liquid and liquid-vapor interfaces, especially the structure of liquid-X interfaces of metals and alloys, quantum mechanical reactive scattering, unimolecular reaction rate theory, as well as relativistic quantum mechanics. Dr. Zhao is also working as the director of general chemistry laboratories.

Postdoctoral Scholar Sanghun An joined Prof. Woowon Kang's group after completing his Ph.D with Prof. Tom Gramila at the Ohio State. His Ph.D research focused on Coulomb drag measurements in bilayer two-dimensional electron systems (2DES), in which he directly probed interlayer electron interactions in tilted magnetic fields to study its anomalous character. His current study explores the nu=5/2 fractional quantum Hall state (FQHE) of 2DES at below 20mK, with a focus on the possible non-Abelian nature of the quasiparticle excitations, which is a prime candidate to realize the qubit for error-tolerant topological quantum computations.

Postdoctoral Scholar Kisan Babu joins Prof. Biron's Lab.

Postdoctoral Scholar Kathy-Ann Brickman joins Prof. Chin's Lab.

Eric Brown joined the JFI as a postdoctoral scholar after receiving a Ph.D. in physics for studying the flow dynamics of turbulent thermal convection with Prof. Guenter Ahlers at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is at the JFI to study jamming in granular systems and colloids with Sid Nagel and Heinrich Jaeger.

Postdoctoral Scholar Justin Burton joined the JFI in 2009 after a year of postdoctoral research studying the evolution of cooperation in Prof. Wenying Shou's group at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. He received his PhD in 2006 from the University of California, Irvine, where he studied singularity formation in free-surface flows such as the breakup of bubbles and droplets. He has also studied the low temperature wetting properties of superfluid helium films on alkali metal surfaces. Currently he working under Prof. Sidney Nagel, using experiments to explore the jammed state of a granular system. In particular, Justin focuses on the low-temperature properties of glassy materials and the formation of memories in a system close to the jamming transition.

Postdoctoral Scholar Lina Cao joins Prof. Scherer's Lab.

Postdoctoral Scholar Hyunchang Choi joined Prof. Kang's lab January 2007.

Postdoctoral Scholar Chris Fleming arrived from Scotland in Nov 2009 after being awarded his PhD from the University of Glasgow, working in fields that included the electron stimulated desorption of chiral molecules from both achiral and chiral surfaces, and nanoscale HPOM clusters that have potential as single molecule data storage devices. He has joined the Sibener group where he will continue to work with UHV systems, initially planning to use STM to investigate the 2-dimensional chiral arrays formed by certain porpyrins on Au.

Grainger Postdoctoral Fellow Nathan Gemelke completed his PhD on ultracold atomic gases and Bose-Einstein condensation under direction of Nobel Leaureate Dr. Steven Chu at Stanford University.  His research there included investigations of fractional quantum Hall effects in rotating ultracold Bose gases, atomic parametric oscillation, superfluid-Mott insulator transitions, sub-recoil laser cooling, and photoassociation of ultracold molecules.  In May, 2007, he joined the James Franck Institute to participate in research on quantum degenerate atomic Bose and Fermi gases, few-body physics, and quantum information in the group of Prof. Cheng Chin.  Since joining, he has delivered the 66th Arthur H. Compton Lecture Series, and assisted in producing the first Bose-Einstein condensate of cesium atoms in the United States. 

Nicholas Guttenberg joined JFI as a Postdoctoral Scholar after receiving his PhD at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2009, where he did work on two-dimensional turbulence and the evolution of complexity, among other things. He is studying short timescale evolutionary dynamics in the adaptive immune system with Aaron Dinner. How much adaptation can take place in an evolving system that is optimized around finding a solution in a highly limited amount of time, compared to the usual constraints of long timescale evolution? He is also studying the line between continuum and discrete behavior in densely packed granular flows. Despite dense packing, a granular jet impacting an obstacle shows many commonalities with a fluid flow in the same geometry.

Postdoctoral Scholar You jin Hao working in Prof. Biron's Lab.

Post-Doctoral Scholar working with Prof. Greg Engel.

Post-Doctoral Scholar working with Prof. Heinrich Jaeger.

Postdoctoral Scholar Shachar Iwanir obtained his PhD in 2006 from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, where he studied ion channels physiology under the guidance of Prof. Eitan Reuveny. In his research he employed electrophysiological, molecular and imaging tools, to study the function of a G-protein gated, inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channel in pancreatic islet cells. In a subsequent post-doc work in the same lab, he developed a recombinant knock-in mouse line for dynamic in-vivo channel imaging studies. He joined the laboratory of Prof. David Biron in September 2009, switching to a rather novel research field, namely behavioral studies of the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In particular, he dedicates his efforts to the development of a long-term, high-throughput behavioral analysis system and its application in the study of lethargus, a worm sleep-like state.

Dan Killelea joined JFI as a postdoc after completing his Ph.D. with Prof. Arthur Utz at Tufts University. His research focused on the role that vibrational energy in gas-phase reagents plays in heterogeneously catalyzed reactions and demonstrated bond and isotope selective control of gas-surface reactions using IR laser light. Currently, he is working for Prof. Steven Sibener and is studying reactions on polymer surfaces.

Martin Lenz joined the JFI as a postdoc after a PhD in theoretical biophysics in the group of Jean-Francois Joanny and Jacques Prost in Institut Curie (Paris, France). He is at the JFI to work on several statistical mechanics and biophysics problems, including close interactions with experiments on the active mechanics of actomyosin under way in the Gardel group.

JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow Hideaki Obuse joins Prof. Gruzberg's Lab.

Postdoctoral Scholar Jacob Simmons joined the JFI to work with Profs. Gruzberg, Wiegmann and Kadanoff in the theoretical study of 2D critical systems. His current interests include stochastic descriptions of criticality, non-unitary observables and logarithmic conformal field theories. He was previously a postdoc at Oxford University,investigating 2D loop gases and Schramm-Loewner evolution with Prof. J. Cardy. His PhD, obtained 2007 from the University of Maine under Prof. P. Kleban, was on applications of CFT to problems in 2D percolation.

HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow Ali joined Prof. Dinner's group after completing his PhD at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He studied disordered quantum magnetic materials theoretically with Prof. Michel Gingras. In Dinner's group he is going to theoretically study regulatory networks in biological systems.

Xinliang joined Prof. Dinner's group after completing his PhD at the University of Chicago with Prof. Rice.