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Joshua Socolar
Professor of Physics
Prof. Socolar is interested in collective behavior in condensed matter and dynamical systems. His current research interests include:
- Limit-periodic structures, quasicrystals, packing problems, and tiling theory;
- Self-assembly and phases of designed colloidal particles;
- Shear jamming and stick-slip behavior in dry granular materials;
- Organization and dynamics of complex networks;
- Topological elasticity of mechanical lattices.
Appointments and Affiliations
- Professor of Physics
Contact Information
- Office Location: 096 Physics Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
- Office Phone: (919) 660-2557
- Email Address: socolar@duke.edu
Education
- Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, 1987
- B.A. Haverford College, 1980
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Top 5% in undergraduate instruction at Duke University. Dean of Arts and Sciences and Dean of Academic Affairs, Trinity College. 2013
- Top 5% in undergraduate instruction at Duke University. Deans of Arts and Sciences and Trinity College. 2011
- Outstanding Referee. American Physics Society. 2008
- Harvard Society Junior Fellows. Harvard Society of Fellows. 1987
Courses Taught
- MUSIC 126: Acoustics and Music
- PHYSICS 136: Acoustics and Music
- PHYSICS 151L9: Introductory Mechanics
- PHYSICS 363: Thermal Physics
- PHYSICS 713: Thermal Physics
In the News
- Conjuring Coltrane (Jan 5, 2021)
- Visualizing the Exotic Patterns of the Crystals of the Cosmos (Sep 18, 2015 | Duke Research Blog)
- Faculty Council Reboots Campus Conversation on Diversity (Jan 20, 2014)
- Faculty to Begin Conversation on Diversity (Jan 14, 2014)
- New Academic Council Chair Begins 2013-14 Term (Sep 16, 2013)
- First Aperiodic Tiling With A Single Shape (Mar 25, 2010 | MIT Technology Review)
Representative Publications
- Socolar, JES, Quasicrystalline structure of the Smith monotile tilings (2023) [abs].
- Zhao, Y; Wang, D; Zheng, H; Chakraborty, B; Socolar, JES, Microscopic reversibility and emergent elasticity in ultrastable granular systems, Frontiers in Physics, vol 10 (2022) [10.3389/fphy.2022.1048683] [abs].
- Kozlowski, R; Zheng, H; Daniels, KE; Socolar, JES, Stick-Slip Dynamics in a Granular Material With Varying Grain Angularity, Frontiers in Physics, vol 10 (2022) [10.3389/fphy.2022.916190] [abs].
- Zhao, Y; Wang, D; Zheng, H; Chakraborty, B; Socolar, JES, Ultrastable Shear-Jammed Granular Material, Physical Review X, vol 12 no. 3 (2022) [10.1103/PhysRevX.12.031021] [abs].
- Pugnaloni, LA; Carlevaro, CM; Kozlowski, R; Zheng, H; Kondic, L; Socolar, JES, Universal features of the stick-slip dynamics of an intruder moving through a confined granular medium., Physical Review. E, vol 105 no. 4 (2022) [10.1103/physreve.105.l042902] [abs].