New preprint! :) : "Insertion space of repulsive active matter". We show that the presence of activity, weak or strong, increases the total insertion volume and its connectedness. Our work extends equilibrium concepts of stochastic geometry to active systems. arxiv.org/pdf/2509.081...
#ActiveMatter

New Preprint Alert! 🌟

Discover our latest research on "Force and geometric signatures of the creep-to-failure transition in a granular pile" on arXiv. Dive into the dynamic interplay of forces and geometry in granular systems.

arxiv.org/abs/2508.01391

Latest portrait is of the late Freeman Dyson.

At the very pretty IHES, in Bures sur-yvette, for the school on Nonlinear and statistical physics.

Chalk portrait of Felix Klein 1849-1925. Mathematician who was based in Goettingen. I also drew this portrait at the Max Planck institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization.

My chalk portrait of Emmy Noether 1882-1935. This portrait was drawn in the library of the Living Matter Physics (Golestanian) group at the Mac Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organisation.

My latest chalk portrait of a scientist: Peter Higgs 1929-2024. This one is at the Higgs Center for Theoretical Physics, where I have an affiliation.

Higgs Boson Ale: may give you *more* mass.

I am advertising x2 (4-year) PhD projects on the statistical physics and mathematics of active matter at
@EdinUniMaths
. The deadline is 20/01/25 and likely starting date is Sept 2025. Project details see mac-migs.ac.uk/projects-2024/ and scroll down or ctrl-f "Luke".

Please share! 😄

Lovely view of Arthur’s seat from my new office at the School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh.

🎉 Grant news! 🎉 I have won a Wellcome Accelerator Award! This will accelerate my research and career at UoE (Edinburgh). Grateful to Wellcome and for all the support I have received from UoE, mentors, collaborators, friends, and family.

I will be hiring a 2-year Postdoc! Stay tuned for more info.

Some time away from
physics to indulge in some kultur at the Alte Nationalgalerie.

This week I am working at and visiting TU Berlin! Will give an informal seminar on Wednesday.

This photo is in front of the elevators on the seventh floor…

Tel me you are in Germany without telling me that you are Germany.

Some pics from my visit to the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. The small library had some great science history tomes, and QM textbooks. This rather large book by Tycho Brahe is pretty old. An almost lifesize photo portrait of Bohr “walks” the corridors.