We develop and use tools of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics to understand the behavior of complex systems in physical chemistry, soft condensed matter physics, and biophysics.
Statistical Mechanics of Driven Systems and Self Assembly Out of Equilibrium
Understanding the statistical mechanics of self assembly and pattern formation under non-equilibrium conditions remains an important open problem. We are interested in developing theoretical and simulation methodologies that enable the study of far from equilibrium systems and elucidate the principles of assembly, stability and self organization in non-equilibrium conditions.
Information Processing and Control in Biology
Energy dissipation is a characteristic feature of feedback and information processing circuits in biological systems. Research in our group will explore tradeoffs between efficiency and dissipation in biological circuits and motors, and the strategies utilized by biological systems to ensure sensitivity and robustness in noisy dissipative environments.
Organization and Assembly in Soft Matter
Our group pursues projects related to solvation thermodynamics and the statistical mechanics of self assembly in a number of systems ranging from lipid membranes to nanocyrstals in ionic melts.
Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, India
B. Tech - Biotechnology
2006
University of Maryland, College Park
Ph.D. - Chemical Physics
2011
University of California, Berkeley
Postdoctoral Fellow
2014
University of Chicago
Assistant Professor
2020
University of Chicago
Associate Professor
2023
University of Chicago
Professor
Present
D. Wang, C. Zhou, A.S. Filatov, W. Cho, F. Lagunas, M. Wang, S. Vaikuntanathan, C. Liu, R. F. Klie, D.V. Talapin. "Direct synthesis and chemical vapor deposition of 2D carbide and nitride MXenes." Science 2023.
A. Behera, M. Rao, S. Sastry, S. Vaikuntanathan. "Enhancing associative memory recall in non-equilibrium materials through activity." Physical Review X 2023
B. Cheng, Y. Zhong, Y. Qiu, S. Vaikuntanatha, J. Park. "Giant gateable osmotic power generation from a Goldilocks two-dimensional membrane." JACS 2023.
A. Lamtyugina, Y. Qiu, E. Fodor, A. Dinner, S. Vaikuntanathan. "Thermodynamic control of Activity patterns in Cytoskeletal Networks. PRL, 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.128002 2022
Y. Qiu, M. Nguyen, G. M. Hocky, A. R. Dinner, and S. Vaikuntanathan, "A strong nonequilibrium bound for sorting of cross-linkers on growing biopolymers", PNAS 10.1073/pnas.2102881118, 2021.
M. Nguyen, S. Vaikuntanathan "Design principles for nonequilibrium self assembly", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 113, 10.1073/pnas.1609983113, 14231, 2016.
A. Murugan, S. Vaikuntanathan, "Topologically protected modes in non-equilibrium stochastic systems", Nature Comm. 10.1038/ncomms13381, 2017.
H. Zhang, K. Dasbiswas, N. B. Ludwig, G. Han, B. Lee, S. Vaikuntanathan, D. V. Talapin, "Stable colloids in molten inorganic salts", Nature, 542, 328-331, 2017.
C. del Junco, L. Tociu, S. Vaikuntanathan, "Energy dissipation and fluctuations in a driven liquid", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 10.1073.pnas.1713573115, 2018.
S. Vaikuntanathan, P. L. Geissler “Putting water on a lattice : The importance of long wavelength density fluctuations in theories of hydrophobic and interfacial phenomena", PRL, 112(2), 020603, 2014.
S. Vaikuntanathan, G. M. Rokstoff, A. Hudson, P. L. Geissler "Necessity of capillary modes in a minimal model of nanoscale hydrophobic solvation", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 10.1073/pnas.1513659113 2016.
*S. Katira, *K. K. Mandadapu, *S. Vaikuntanathan, B. Smit, D. Chandler, "Pre-transition effects mediate forces of assembly between transmembrane proteins", eLife 10.7554/eLife.13150 2016.
Early Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry
2023
Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
2020
NSF CAREER Award
2018
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship
2017
Ann G Wylie Dissertation Fellowship, University of Maryland, College Park
2011
Vaikuntanathan Lab create new method to make cell snapshots more dynamic
Suri Vaikuntanathan awarded 2023 Early Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry