Events in Physics
Bryan Chen, Leiden
Topological soft matter: from linkages to kinks
Networks of rigid bars connected by joints, termed linkages, provide a minimal framework to design robotic arms and mechanical metamaterials built out of folding components. These linkages may admit motions that perform useful functions. Can these motions be made to be topologically robust? I will explain this question and illustrate our answer with a chain-like linkage that, according to linear elasticity, behaves like a topological mechanical insulator whose zero-energy modes are localized at the edge. Simple experiments we performed using prototypes of the chain vividly illustrate how this edge mode can in fact propagate unobstructed all the way to the opposite end. Indeed, the chain is a mechanical conductor, whose carriers are nonlinear solitary waves, not captured within linear elasticity. This chain can be regarded as the simplest example of a topological mechanical metamaterial whose protected excitations are solitons, moving domain walls between distinct topological mechanical phases. Live demonstrations on real toys will be performed. (Based on work with Nitin Upadhyaya and Vincenzo Vitelli).
Academic Leave Diary
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UKRI - Daphne Jackson Fellowship
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UKRI Deadlines
Due to the implementation of a new UKRI funding system (TFS) there will be a fixed quarterly deadlines for some grants which would previously have been on open calls, this is to allow necessary system amendments and updates.
The first deadline after implementation will be 28th September 2023 and applies to those calls listed below:
EPSRC Post Doctoral Fellowship
EPSRC Working with overseas scientists