In condensed-matter physics, a Nambu-Goldstone mode is a particular low energy deformation of an ordered phase arising from a symmetry of the ground state. Examples are acoustic phonons and spin waves. In this paper, I use the fact that an isometry is a symmetry of the stretching energy of a shell to derive a set […]
Keck award to study sheets at interfaces
Physicists Narayanan Menon, Benny Davidovitch and Chris Santangelo, together with Tom Russell from PS&E, have been awarded a $1M grant from the WM Keck Foundation to develop the basic science needed to spontaneously deliver ultrathin films to fluid interfaces. The films may then serve as microscopic and functional wall paper or shrink-wrap. The Keck Science […]
New paper: The shape and mechanics of curved fold origami structures
We develop equations that describe the three-dimensional shape of a sheet upon which a series of concentric, curved folds have been inscribed. When there is no stretching outside the fold, the three-dimensional shape of a single fold prescribes the shape of the entire origami structure. To better explore these structures and their mechanical properties, we […]