Abstract:
When humans build, we place each piece where it belongs in the final structure. Nature has no such blueprint. From the growth of tissues to the self-assembly of proteins, natural structures take shape through local rules—simple instructions followed by each part without awareness of the whole. Yet, these local rules often conflict: they demand shapes that cannot quite fit together in three-dimensional space. The result is geometric frustration—a tension between what each part “wants” to do and what the whole structure can actually become. Out of this tension emerge intricate forms and surprising functions. In this talk, I will explore how frustration shapes the natural and synthetic world alike, from the curling of rose petals to the atomic architecture of Gorilla Glass that protects most modern phones.
About the Speaker:
Efi Efrati studied his undergraduate degrees (in physics and mathematics) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He then continued there for his Ph.D. followed by a Simons postdoctoral fellowship at the James Frank Institute. In 2014 he assumed a position at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he has been since. His group studies problems at the interface of theoretical soft condensed matter, differential geometry and material science.
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