Abstract: I will emphasize the surprises and elegance of how liquids produce the texture of our lives. Examined closely, many things that we take for granted are astonishing. Consider a simple liquid drop as it falls. It breaks into two pieces where not only the topology changes but where the forces diverge. If the drop falls and impacts a surface, it sometimes splashes, sometimes spreads smoothly and sometimes just hovers not touching the surface at all. Now consider a liquid that is compressed between two smooth surfaces to form the expected circular disk; when the plates are separated, a different pattern emerges — a form of dilation symmetry caused by the penetration of space. Such patterns are all around and within us. The commonplace is extraordinary!
About the Speaker: Sidney Nagel is in the Physics Department of the University of Chicago. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and was awarded the Buckley Prize and the Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research from the American Physical Society. His research seeks to understand the physics of disordered systems that are far from equilibrium. This has led in various directions – from studies that delve into the physics of why drops splash and form rings at their contact lines to the theory of jamming and studies of how materials store memories.
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