Faculty

Noel's research interests in statistical physics and theory of critical phenomena include: (1) disordered systems, (2) percolation and polymers, (3) geometric phase transitions, (4) path integral and second quantization methods for classical stochastic reaction-diffusion processes, (5) density matrix renormalization group, matrix product states and tensor networks, and (5) Monte Carlo simulations.

He became a regular member of SanD in 2024 and is currently the SanD Program Coordinator.

Gennevieve's research interests in computational materials physics include: (1) topological materials such as topological insulators, quantum anomalous Hall insulators, and Dirac semi-metals, (2) 2D materials which are excellent platforms to observe and study these topological phases, (3) kagome magnets and magnetic materials, (4) impurities and single-atom impurities on surfaces, (5) graphene molecules, and (6) multiferroic materials. She primarily uses first-principles density functional theory in her research work.

Francis' research interests in condensed matter physics and statistical physics include entanglement in many-body systems and computational physics. In particular, he is interested in the relationship between entanglement entropy and the entropy of effective thermal models. He is also working with his students to develop low-cost high-performance computing capabilities in a heterogeneous cluster for small- and medium-scale materials modeling.

Cristine's research interests in theoretical solid state physics include (1) thermoelectric properties, (2) transport characteristics and (3) the magnetic behavior in low dimensional materials. For example, she studies the heat capacity behavior of two dimensional electron systems in the quantum Hall regime. She collaborates with Ronald Banzon in the field of percolation, modeling of quantum well states, and the optimization of quantum algorithms.

Ronald's research interests include: (1) studies on population dynamics via the Penna model, a bit-string model to account for the influence of aging/inheritance of genes and possible mutations, (2) molecular dynamics through formation of composite particles, (3) percolation, (4) quantum well states modeling, and (5) the investigation of circular polymers in solution for the possible conformations that they may exhibit as those found in supercoiled plasmid DNA.