Research Interests:
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. Specific research directions include:
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.
Recent Publications
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.
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.
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.