Bulbul Chakraborty

Professor Bulbul Chakraborty is a condensed matter theorist who is interested in the collective behavior of non-thermal systems: emergence in the macroworld where thermal fluctuations are irrelevant. These systems fall outside the standard paradigm of statistical mechanics, and pose fundamental theoretical challenges. The objective of her research is to construct a theoretical framework that is as powerful as the 2oth century theory of critical phenomena in equilibrium systems. Problems that she is currently obsessed with are: (1) What makes non-crystalline solids hold their shape (rigid), (2) Flows in systems that are close to being jammed, which include flows of sand and debris and suspensions that we find in our everyday life, such as corn-starch.